TUPELO – Congressional candidates Travis Childers and Alan Nunnelee both rank jobs as the No. 1 issue facing north Mississippi.
The region has faced a double-digit unemployment rate for more than a year with a current average of 10.2 percent, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Up until August, the jobless rate for most of the 1st District had averaged 12.8 percent, peaking with February’s 13.7 percent. In July, the rate was 13.4 percent.
But while both candidates say they want to put more men and women back to work, Childers and Nunnelee differ on how to accomplish that goal.
“I am convinced a lot of this recession is driven by fear,” said Nunnelee, the Republican candidate and current state senator, during a congressional debate last week at the University of Mississippi.
Read more: NEMS360.com – News, Business, Classifieds, and Events in Northeast Mississippi
10/18/10
Magnolia Tribune
