Mississippi jobless rate level in April as payrolls tick up

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi’s job market sent mixed signals in April, with unemployment flat and employer payrolls ticking up slightly.

The state’s jobless rate was 4.9% in April, level with March. Mississippi’s April 2018 jobless rate was 4.8%

The number of people looking for jobs and reporting having a job both continued falling, furthering a trend in recent months. The number of unemployed people in Mississippi rose slightly, to almost 63,000.

The number of Mississippians on payrolls – economists’ top labor market indicator – rose slightly in April to 1.16 million. Payrolls were more than 11,000 above April 2018’s 1.15 million.

April’s U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.6% from 3.8% in March. That’s the lowest nationwide rate since 1969.

Mississippi’s Department of Employment Security released figures Tuesday, adjusted to cancel out seasonal changes.

(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)