N.C. Department of Commerce data show Tyrrell County’s unemployment rate in April was 8.1% com- pared with the state rate of 4.3%.

The data also show a 0.3% increase in the labor force over one year earlier and  a 0.6% increase in number of employed persons over April 2016.

When the current data are compared with pre- recession figures from December 2007, Tyrrell’s unemployment rate was 0.9% greater in April 2017, but, because of the shrinking labor force, 36 fewer persons were unemployed in April 2017.

The county’s labor force has fallen by 677 persons since 2007, a drop of 31.3%; that is, the labor force decreased from 2,162 to 1,485 while the total county population fell by 138, from an estimated 4,355 to 4,217, in approximately the same period.

Unemployment  rates in Tyrrell and eight other eastern counties remain above pre-recession levels. After nearly eight years of recovery more than 13,000 residents in these counties are without jobs.

Tyrrell and 11 other eastern counties have all  lost 10 percent or more of their labor forces since 2007. Tyrrell leads with 31%, followed by Washington 26%, Chowan 22%, and Scotland 19%.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s budget request to Congress proposes major changes in the Supplemen- tal Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) that has grown steadily since its inception in the 1970s.

The president would require able-bodied adult recipients to work or pre- pare for work in exchange for benefits, and he would alter the fiscal responsibility level of state governments for the welfare programs they operate. SNAP is an entitlement funded by Congress, over- seen by the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, and administered locally by the Tyrrell County Department of Social Services.

The SNAP (food stamp) program has grown in Tyr- rell County over the past two decades. Average number of recipients ranged from a low of 464 in 2000 to a high of 991 in 2011, according  to U.S. Census Bureau statis- tics that were confirmed by Chris Carson, SNAP super- visor at the Tyrrell County Social Services Department. The reason 2011 was 991 is because of Hurricane Irene and Disaster  food benefits, she explained.

The average number of SNAP recipients in Tyrrell County over the past five years, according to Carson, were:

2012 – 888

2013 – 839

2014 – 851

2015 – 862

2016 – 809

2016’s drop to 809 meant the fewest recipients in Tyr- rell since 786 were recorded in 2008. And the drop came despite Hurricane Matthew and Disaster food stamp issuances last October.

The number of SNAP recipients in 2007 was 674, and the jump to 786 in 2008, the first year of the Great Recession, is the largest annual increase on record.

Meanwhile, Tyrrell Coun- ty’s population increased from 3,856 in 1990 to 4,149 in 2000 to 4,407 in 2010, a net gain of 551 inhabitants in 20 years. However, the state demographer’s certified estimates show declines every year since 2010, with 2015’s estimate (the latest available) at 4,217, and minimal changes are projected for the next 20 years.

According to the Nation- al Bureau of Economic Research, the Great Reces- sion lasted 19 months — from December 2007 to June 2009 — yet unemployment rose and remained high in Tyr- rell County long after 2009, and so did the numbers of SNAP recipients. All the while, Tyrrell’s labor force and total population are getting smaller.

Congress added a work element when it transformed the Aid to Families With Dependent Children cash benefit program into Work First, and Congress will decide what, if any, changes to make in SNAP.