Unemployment numbers in Henderson County are soaring, according to figures released by the Texas Workforce Commission.

The jobless rate sprinted past the 9-percent mark in January, coming in at 9.5 percent, a jump of eighttenths of a percentage point from the previous month.

The agency’s report is based on a “snapshot” of a single day during a month, the Web site says.

Unemployment reached 3,376 in Henderson County, according to the report — the highest number recorded in the past two years, as was the percentage of unemployment.

January’s figures mark the eighth consecutive month Henderson County’s jobless rate was at or above the 8-percent mark. December 2009’s 8.7 percent was the previous high-water mark for unemployment in the previous two years.

January’s numbers also continued a deeping unemployment trend for the first month of the year. January 2007’s rate was at 4.9 percent; January 2008 was at 5.2 percent; and January of last year was at 7.5 per- cent.

February jobless numbers are expected to be released on Thursday, March 25.