[9/29/04]The number of people employed in Warren County in August was 23,740, down 20 from July, but the number of people available for work, 25,140, was down by 70, the Mississippi Employment Security Commission said.

Those changes combined to create a lower jobless rate for the month, even with fewer people working. The rate fell from 5.8 percent to 5.6 percent.

Bennie Terrell, manager of the Vicksburg MESC office’s unemployment-insurance division, said the drop in the number of people in the labor force probably reflects students returning to college or others who may have been here only for the summer months. It could also reflect some unemployed people leaving the work force by discontinuing job searches.

There were job increases. Staff of the city’s two Head Start preschool centers and seasonal employees of Mat Sinking Unit of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers returned to work. All are considered jobless when the centers are closed for summer or when revetment work is not under way.

Warren County posted the 26th lowest unemployment rate among the state’s 82 counties. Rankin was lowest with 2.7 percent and Jefferson highest with 20.5 percent.

Issaquena was 44th at 7 percent; Sharkey 77th at 12.2 and Claiborne 78th at 13.4 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, which was down .2 percentage points since last month and down .4 from the same period in 2003. But the number also reflected declines in both the number of people employed, smaller by 22,100, and the size of the labor force, smaller by 26,600.