Lee County unemployment was 3.0% in September, down from 3.3% a year earlier and below Mississippi's 3.3%. Tupelo's rate was 3.2%. The labor force shrank again.
Lee County’s unemployment rate was 3.0% in September. That is down from 3.3% in September 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The rate edged up from 2.9% in August, which was the lowest August in the bureau’s records. The bureau did not revise the August rate. The September figure is preliminary.
Tupelo itself ran slightly higher than the county, at 3.2%.
The numbers
The bureau’s Local Area Unemployment Statistics for Lee County, not seasonally adjusted:
| September 2025 | September 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 3.3% | 3.0% | down 0.3 points |
| Unemployed | 1,266 | 1,128 | down 138 |
| Employed | 37,042 | 36,226 | down 816 |
| Labor force | 38,308 | 37,354 | down 954 |
The rate fell, but so did the number of people working. The county counted 816 fewer employed residents than a year earlier. The labor force, the people working or looking for work, shrank by 954.
That makes this the smallest September labor force in Lee County since 2009, when it was 36,863. Part of the lower rate comes from people leaving the labor force, not only from people finding jobs. We reported the same pattern in August’s figures.
Tupelo’s own rate
The bureau also publishes figures for the city of Tupelo:
- Unemployment rate: 3.2%, down from 3.3% in September 2025
- Unemployed: 547, down from 593
- Labor force: 17,329, down from 17,753
The city’s rate rose from 2.9% in August.
How Lee County compares
Statewide, Mississippi’s rate was 3.3% in September, down from 3.6% a year earlier, on the same not seasonally adjusted basis. The national rate on that basis was 4.0%, down from 4.3%. Lee County ran below both.
Among Lee and its six neighboring counties, only Union County had a lower rate:
| County | September 2025 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Union | 3.0% | 2.7% |
| Lee | 3.3% | 3.0% |
| Itawamba | 3.3% | 3.1% |
| Prentiss | 3.5% | 3.2% |
| Pontotoc | 3.7% | 3.4% |
| Monroe | 4.7% | 4.1% |
| Chickasaw | 4.7% | 4.1% |
All seven counties had a lower rate than a year earlier.
A decade of Septembers
These figures are not seasonally adjusted, so September against September is the fair comparison. Lee County’s September rate, by year:
| September | Rate |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 5.5% |
| 2017 | 4.2% |
| 2018 | 4.0% |
| 2019 | 4.7% |
| 2020 | 6.8% |
| 2021 | 4.0% |
| 2022 | 3.3% |
| 2023 | 2.7% |
| 2024 | 3.0% |
| 2025 | 3.3% |
| 2026 | 3.0% |
The 2.7% in September 2023 is the lowest September in the bureau’s county records, which go back to 1990. This year ties 2024 for second. The highest was 10.8%, in September 2009.
What it means for you
- If you are looking for work, fewer people in Lee County are competing for openings than a year ago.
- If you are hiring, the pool is small. About 1,100 county residents were counted as unemployed, meaning they had no job and had looked for one in the past four weeks.
- If you are watching the local economy, watch the labor force as closely as the rate. The county has about 950 fewer people working or looking for work than a year ago.
The bureau’s next county release covers October. We will report it when it is published.
Related: Huntington’s $40 million renovation of its Tupelo offices, Tupelo home prices and new businesses in Tupelo.
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