Jackson Free Press

Unemployment figures in the United States continued their downward trend last month from the most recent high of 10.2 percent in October 2009.

January's jobless rate declined by 0.2 percent to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent in December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate has fallen by 0.8 percent since August 2011. The total number of unemployed Americans nationwide declined to 12.8 million in January from about 13 million in December.

Much of the increase in employment was in the private sector, with manufacturing, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality industries seeing significant growth; government employment rates changed little.

Mississippi has the fourth-highest unemployment rate of any state in the union. The BLS' most recent unemployment statistics for Mississippi are from December 2011. At that time, the state's unemployment rate dropped to 10.4 percent from 10.5 percent in November 2011, and the total number of unemployed persons declined to roughly 139,000 from 142,000 in November.

The rate in Mississippi counties varied widely, from a low of 6.2 percent in Rankin County to a high of 19.1 percent in Clay County. Only seven counties had rates equal to or lower than the national unemployment rate.