Lafayette county lowest in unemployment

Laura Moore
DM Staff writer

Lafayette County currently holds the lowest unemployment rate in the state of Mississippi.

To be exact, according to the Mississippi Employment Security Commission the rate for the month of December was at 1.1 percent.

"I credit the University of Mississippi for the low rate," Jan D. Garrick, director of Communications at the Mississippi Employment Security Commission, said. "Students and the campus itself have brought in a lot of jobs."

According to Garrick 17,730 people are employed in this county, and 200 are without jobs.

"Just about everybody is employed in Lafayette County," Garrick said.

In August of 1999 the unemployment rate for Lafayette was 2.3 percent, but the figures show that when classes are in full gear, the numbers dropped to a percent that has been steady for some months. Lafayette County has held the lowest rate in the state since September.

"When the students go home for the summer, the rates go higher," Garrick said. "But as the numbers show, the rate goes back down when classes resume in the fall."

In the working field some employers believe that if it wasn't for Ole Miss, the unemployment rate would not be as low as it is now.

Betty Hood, manager of Corndog 7 in the Oxford Mall, says it is hard to find employees in the summer months because this town is, as she puts it, "somewhat dead" without the students most of whom have returned home for summer.

"The university is a major component when it comes to jobs," Hood said. "I hire mostly students from Ole Miss because they are basically the only ones that apply."

Ironically, there are some citizens of Oxford who feel Ole Miss is not the only reason for job boom.

"Industries are being brought in, and with that comes more jobs," said Rosie Pearson, a custodian for two years at the university. "Also many people move here to retire, and usually children follow with them, giving yet more jobs for the community."

Pearson also commented on the fact that housing costs in Lafayette County are higher because of the number of students who move to Oxford each year. She said that Oxford expands more for the students and retiring people.

"A person would have to be in the upper middle class to wealthy to even rent a apartment," she said. "I know, I just went through a housing arrangement."

Lafayette County not only holds the lowest unemployment record for the state for the past four months, but on average they have more people employed for the year according to the records of the Mississippi Security Commission.