Counties with the highest unemployment in Mississippi

The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.

Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.

Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.

The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.

To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in Mississippi, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market

February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.

"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.

Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.

The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market

After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.

Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.

The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.

In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."

"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.

To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in Mississippi.

46. Forrest County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 36,183 people (1,371 unemployed)

46. Montgomery County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,907 people (148 unemployed)

46. Stone County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,546 people (283 unemployed)

46. Winston County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,281 people (275 unemployed)

46. Tippah County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,649 people (366 unemployed)

45. Clarke County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,308 people (246 unemployed)

40. Tishomingo County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,334 people (297 unemployed)

40. Attala County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,028 people (284 unemployed)

40. Carroll County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: -0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,355 people (133 unemployed)

40. Copiah County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,111 people (445 unemployed)

40. Jasper County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: -0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,495 people (262 unemployed)

36. Choctaw County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,078 people (126 unemployed)

36. Tallahatchie County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,511 people (185 unemployed)

36. Oktibbeha County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 22,182 people (907 unemployed)

36. Marion County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,981 people (365 unemployed)

34. Jefferson Davis County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: -0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,035 people (212 unemployed)

34. Grenada County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,085 people (341 unemployed)

28. Clay County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,416 people (362 unemployed)

28. Walthall County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,026 people (216 unemployed)

28. Warren County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 18,318 people (785 unemployed)

28. Yazoo County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,891 people (384 unemployed)

28. Lawrence County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,859 people (208 unemployed)

28. Marshall County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 14,052 people (599 unemployed)

24. Wayne County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,397 people (327 unemployed)

24. Perry County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,082 people (180 unemployed)

24. Noxubee County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: -0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,067 people (178 unemployed)

24. Monroe County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,700 people (561 unemployed)

22. Bolivar County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,691 people (480 unemployed)

22. Amite County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,637 people (207 unemployed)

21. Kemper County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: -0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,299 people (152 unemployed)

20. Pike County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 13,957 people (654 unemployed)

19. Chickasaw County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,942 people (283 unemployed)

17. Panola County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,680 people (586 unemployed)

17. Franklin County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,869 people (144 unemployed)

16. Sunflower County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,948 people (458 unemployed)

14. Adams County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,404 people (543 unemployed)

14. Washington County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: -0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 16,001 people (826 unemployed)

13. Tunica County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,793 people (202 unemployed)

12. Quitman County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,070 people (111 unemployed)

11. George County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.6%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,907 people (496 unemployed)

10. Sharkey County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.7%
--- 1-month change: -0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,412 people (81 unemployed)

9. Leflore County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,105 people (551 unemployed)

8. Holmes County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,425 people (349 unemployed)

7. Wilkinson County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,412 people (158 unemployed)

5. Coahoma County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.8%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +2.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,740 people (461 unemployed)

5. Humphreys County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.8%
--- 1-month change: -1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,468 people (169 unemployed)

4. Greene County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.2%
--- 1-month change: +2.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +3.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,958 people (213 unemployed)

3. Issaquena County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 8.5%
--- 1-month change: +3.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 319 people (27 unemployed)

2. Claiborne County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 9.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,824 people (273 unemployed)

1. Jefferson County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 10.7%
--- 1-month change: -2.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,430 people (259 unemployed)

This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.