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But the 10.2 percent jobless rate is just two-tenths lower than the previous low of 10.4 percent, recorded in April and September.
And last November, the region’s unemployment rate was 8.1 percent. Two years earlier, before the start of the recession, it was 6.7 percent.
Still, it was a small bit of good news for a region that has been dealing with double-digit unemployment rates all year.
All 16 counties posted a lower rate than a month earlier, when 13 counties had at least 10 percent rates.
Lafayette (6.9 percent) recorded the lowest rate in the region and sixth-lowest statewide.
Ten counties in the region recorded double-digit rates in November, with Clay County’s 17.8 percent the highest in the region and state. But Clay managed to add 120 jobs in the month to help somewhat.
Statewide, the unemployment rate was 9 percent, down from 9.5 percent in October. The number of unemployed dropped by 7,700 over the month while the number of employed increased by 6,300.
In Northeast Mississippi, the labor force – the number of people with jobs or actively seeking jobs – stayed relatively flat at 214,410. Of that, 192,530 were employed, a gain of nearly 1,400 from October.
Most of the job losses across the state were in government, educational and health services and leisure and hospitality.
December’s rates won’t be released until late January, and those figures are expected to rise. One reason is because the labor force grows as students return home for the holidays.
Sorry about your getting laid off, but we're full up now. Got through the X-mas rush, and will probably be slim pickings for a few weeks.
I've been hiring drivers for tens years, and have had to hire a few job hoppers. You can mark it down. If a guy has been staying with a company for 3 to 6 months, that's about how long he'll stay with you. Mileage varies widely for all companies. Drivers know that, and the ones with realistic expectations bank their money when they're running hard, 'cause they know the short weeks are coming.
5000 a week? No, we run legal. I don't need a 4000 mile man, much less a 5000. Good luck to you.
I had some good applicants, but they were working, and would require two weeks' notice. I needed someone for quick background check, drug test, driving test, and on road. It's a proverb in this industry: The good drivers have jobs. Lotta truth in that. True enough, jobs may be temporary, depending on how long regulars are off, and whether the recovery peters out. Nevertheless, it's a job (with benefits), and you'd think people out of work would be less choosy.
As for health problems related to the job -- well, I think to some extent, we're suffering from our success in retaining good hands. In an industry in which the national turnover rate is something like 110% annually, we're fortunate to have an average tenure of 10 years -- but that turns into a problem of an aging work force and health problems attending age.
Our customers in manufacturing know the problem of unreliable workers. Absentee rates soar on Mondays. Remembering my own minimum wage days, I'd think workers would try to keep $15/hr jobs during a recession, but what do I know? They don't want to come to work, they don't come. Immigrant workers show up, you gotta give'em that.
As a employer, do you think that Toyota will have trouble acquiring quality employees?
I wish you and your family a very merry Christmas.
Due to a couple of hands having health problems requiring leave, I had two jobs to fill, and quickly. Fortunately (or so I thought),it had been raining applications, so I started going through them. Ten jobs in three years... workmen's comp claims out the wahzoo... positive drug tests... terminated, not eligible for rehire...no work experience...etc., etc. Out of fifty apps, not a single one you'd want on your premises, much less with a key to the facility.
Calls to previous applicants brought some interest. "Yes, I'm still looking." Can you start tomorrow? "Uh, I got to take my wife to see her folks in Tennessee. How 'bout next week?" This from a "good worker," who'd been out of work for three months!
I'm telling you, it's no wonder the Chinese and Latin Americans have been getting our jobs. They want to work. We don't.