The latest unemployment rate for Surry County shows a slight drop compared to the previous month, with another round of job losses set to impact the situation in early September.

Surry’s jobless level for June was 12.9 percent, compared to 13.1 percent in May. June is the latest period for which figures are available.

Roberta Wessling, the manager of the local Employment Security Commission office, has said the county’s jobless picture this summer is being affected by the ongoing shutdown of WestPoint Homes, a textile manufacturer in Elkin.

Some of WestPoint’s approximately 140 workers were let go in June and others were scheduled to be in July. Wessling also said that tentative layoffs of teachers and other school personnel as a result of budget constraints also were figuring in to Surry’s jobless equation for the summer.

These negative influences on the unemployment picture have not been offset by any new companies coming in to the county or significant job additions among existing employers, according to Wessling.

The situation does not look to be improving anytime soon, due to an announcement last week that True Inc. of Elkin, a fabrics company, would be laying off 84 of its workers in mid-September.

Although Surry’s unemployment rate fell from May to June, the county still has the second-highest jobless level in the six-county Northwest Piedmont Region, according to the latest figures.

Rockingham County had the highest June unemployment in the region at 13.8 percent, with Forsyth experiencing the lowest, 10.1 percent, which actually rose from 10 percent in May. The Northwest Piedmont also includes Davie, Stokes and Yadkin counties.

Some 2,249 Surry County residents were receiving an unemployment check in June, compared to 1,163 in June 2008.

Seventy-two percent of those filing initial jobless claims in Surry during the month were women, according to ESC statistics.