Nearly 155,000 Mississippians received unemployment benefits in January, with the state's unemployment rate for the first month of 2010 exceeding the national average. Four counties reported jobless rates in excess of 20 percent: Holmes and Noxubee counties both reported rates of 23.1 percent unemployment; Clay County reported 21.2 percent and Winston County 20.3 percent. The state's average rate is 12 percent, 1.4 percent higher than the national average of 10.6 percent.

Only nine of 82 counties in the state reported unemployment lower than 10 percent, among them Rankin and Madison counties at 8 and 8.8 percent, respectively. Hinds County showed that 10.7 percent of its citizens are receiving benefits, which averaged $186 a week in January. This is the first time since the economic crisis that the Hinds County jobless rate was more than 10 percent.

First time benefits dropped significantly for the month: In December, Mississippi saw more than 20,000 first time claims, while January dropped below 14,000.

Official unemployment rates do not count people who have taken part-time employment—reporting any employment at all counts individuals as employed. The numbers also do not reflect those whose benefits have expired, or those who did not actively look for work in the previous four weeks. Experts note that unofficial
employment rates may be twice as high as those reported by official sources.

For additional information, go to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security Web site and click on Unemployment Rates under Labor Market Information.