Mississippi’s Overall Employment Improves

JACKSON, Miss. (Press Release) – Employment Continues to Increase in Mississippi as Unemployment Rate Rises. This is the latest information announced today by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

In December 2015 the number of people working in Mississippi climbed for the twelfth month in a row, increasing by 3,100 to 1,213,300.  That is the highest number of Mississippians with jobs since depth of the Great Recession in 2008.

For all of 2015, employment in our state posted a strong increase of 80,700.

Although more Mississippians were working in December than in the prior month, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 6.0 percent in November to 6.4 percent in December.  The unemployment rate rose because in December the Mississippi labor force increased at a slightly faster pace than employment.

The labor force, which is made up of everyone who has a job or is looking for a job, also grew in December 2015 for the twelfth consecutive month, rising by 8,900 to 1,296,000.

During 2015, the Labor Force grew by a healthy 75,700 as more Mississippians got jobs or started seeking employment.

“During the recession many Mississippians became discouraged, quit looking for jobs, and dropped out of the labor force,” said Mark Henry, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.  “Now, the sustained growth in employment is encouraging more of them to re-enter the labor force and start looking for work again, and MDES is committed to helping them get the jobs they want.”