Neshoba County's jobless rate dipped to 8.7 percent in April after posting double digits the previous month.
The unemployment rate was at 10.1 percent in March. The county's jobless rate in April 2008 was at 4.7 percent.
With 1,170 people unemployed during the month, Neshoba tied with Copiah County in posting the 26th lowest rate from the state's 82 counties. Neshoba's workforce consists of 13,490 persons.
Pearl River Resort, an enterprise of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, laid off 570 workers in January when it announced that it would only operate the Golden Moon Hotel and Casino on the weekend.
Since then, 77 others have been laid off, all part of a broad plan to reduce expenses while continuing to fund Tribal government and debt obligations at nearly $100 million annually in a challenged economy that has riddled the gaming industry nationwide, Tribal officials said at the time.
Mississippi saw its unemployment rate drop from 9.4 percent in March to 8.6 percent in April.
The April rate, however, was significantly higher than one year ago when it was at 5.6 percent.
The poverty-stricken Delta had the highest unemployment of any region in the state and Angela Curry, executive director of Greenwood-Leflore Carroll Economic Development Foundation, said some Delta communities are having a difficult time retaining jobs.
She pointed to Viking Range Corp. as an example.
Viking Range has laid off close to 300 people over the last several months, she said. It still remains the region's largest employer with around 1,100 workers, Curry said.
"We've managed to do better than some communities. Some communities have had a really tough time," said Curry, whose foundation works to recruit and retain industry.
Like most Delta counties, Leflore County had a double-digit unemployment rate at 11.4 percent.
The state's unemployment total decreased by 12,200 people while the number of employed persons increased a mere 100.
State economist Phil Pepper said the unemployment rate is based on how many people are looking for jobs and "in April, the number of people looking for a job went down by 10,000. That doesn't mean they found work. That just means they stopped looking."
According to MDES figures, about 3,100 more people were employed statewide in April than the previous month with construction and hospitality industries seeing the largest gains. But MDES said those employed were still 39,400 fewer than April 2008.
"With the U.S. economy still declining, we're seeing these large layoffs across the nation. For Mississippi to hold steady in its employment says our economy isn't hurting as bad as the national economy," Pepper said.
However, he said the state's declining revenue is reflective of the national situation.
Pepper said Mississippi has gone 10 years without overall job growth and the state is below the employment levels of 2001.
"We've seen a shifting from low-paying manufacturing to higher-paying jobs," Pepper said.
Thirty-five counties reported double-digit rates for the month, and five counties have rates of 15 percent or more.
Rankin County had the lowest jobless rate at 5.4 percent followed by Lamar County at 5.5 percent. Noxubee County had the highest rate at 17.2 percent with Holmes County, which is located in the Delta, at 17.1 percent.
April unemployment rates in counties that join Neshoba:
