A few more people were looking for work in Warren County in October than in the previous month, resulting in a 4.4 percent jobless rate vs. 4.1 percent in September.

But, said Bill Ray of the Mississippi Employment Security Commission office in Vicksburg, there is probably no single reason for the slight rise. He said the rate is low and compares favorably with the 3.6 percent unemployment rate in the nation.

Across the state, the jobless rate was 5.1 percent, up from the 4.8 percent rate in September.

“Some 200 manufacturing jobs were lost during October due to several layoffs and plant closings,” said Curt Thomas, executive director of the commission.

Those losses, he said, were offset by job gains in other sectors of the state’s economy.

Speaking of the local economy, Ray said with the coming of the fall, students returned to school and were removed from the job market, some agriculture-related jobs were still being filled and local construction projects, including the new hospital being built for River Region Health System, have contributed to the job stability in Warren County.

The change in the rates in surrounding counties was mixed with some rising and some falling.

In Claiborne County the rate rose from 9.4 percent to 9.6 and in Yazoo County, from 6.2 percent to 7.3. The rates dropped in Issaquena, 8.2 to 8.1, and in Sharkey from 8.5 to 8.1.