Work dried up for Hattie Felix after her factory job ended last November, leaving the 51-year-old Vicksburg resident unemployed for the first time in years.

“It’s been hard because I haven’t worked since then,” Felix said. “Factory work is getting sort of iffy.”

A different path landed Brinesha Carter in line next to Felix hunting for a job and boning up on the little things to improve their chances of seeing regular paychecks.

“I’ve looked since July, since becoming pregnant,” said Carter, 18.

Both women make up small parts of an uptick in unemployment figures in Warren County and statewide for October.

Local unemployment was 9.8 percent during the month, up from 9.1 percent in September, according to totals released Wednesday by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. Statewide, the rate stood at 9.5 percent, up from 8.8 percent last month. Adjusted for seasonal factors in the workforce, such as weather and holidays, the state’s rate jumps to 9.8 percent.

Industry sectors that lost the most were in construction and leisure and hospitality, with overall rates increases seen in all but five counties. the agency said.

Rankin County posted the lowest at 6.3 percent, up from 5.7 percent last month. Clay County remained highest in the state, at 19 percent from 17.8 percent a month ago. Claiborne, Sharkey, Issaquena and Hinds county rates went up as well, with Claiborne coming in highest at 16.6 percent.

Nationally, adjusted unemployment was 10.2 percent in October, up from 9.8 in September and the highest total in more than 16 years. However, the Labor Department reported first-time claims dropped last week to the lowest weekly total measured in a year. Fewer job cuts are predicted this month compared to last, but not enough to stem the overall unemployment rate.

More resources have popped up for job seekers in Vicksburg and statewide, such as resume-writing workshops and classes on giving better job interviews.   

“The days of us just talking to people who come in are over,” said Terry Hodges, office manager for the Vicksburg WIN Job Center on Monroe Street, home to a recently expanded computer lab with 32 terminals equipped for online research and writing skills. “People apply for jobs online now.”

Monthly interview skills classes at the center hit the basics of communication and presentation when talking to a potential employer — and deeper subjects like identifying self-defining skills and positive attitudes when the phone doesn’t ring right away after an interview.

“Delays are not denials,” said Shretta Varnado, a volunteer instructor with Jackson-based Carson Consulting Services LLC, which conducts the classes at the center. “You can still make it happen.”

Rigors of working in factories like International Paper and 30 years away from the classroom didn’t dissuade Felix from pursuing her GED, which she received from Hinds Community College this year.

“Most jobs out there want that,” Felix said. “I come to as many of these classes as I possibly can so I can get better with all that.”

Since leaving the U.S. Army Reserve in midsummer, Carter has sought work as a certified nursing assistant and sees the classes as a positive amid the sea of negative statistics associated with the economy during the past year.

“The military gave me skills,” Carter said. “I just started coming to the class, but I know I have potential.”

Tech-based job creation was the focus of a Job Order Blitz in October by the state employment agency. In Vicksburg and Warren County, 67 employers, mostly in the service and hospitality industry, were contacted to check on staffing needs, Hodges said, adding 42 of them sent orders for jobs still available.

A new workforce training center in Meridian was opened and a partnership between the state and Microsoft to provide vouchers for computer software training highlighted a month-long visibility tour.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com