Spike in Mississippi Jobless Rate

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Mississipi’s five month run of falling unemployment has ended.

New numbers show the May jobless rate at 6.7 percent. That’s up from April’s 6.6 percent number.

It means 84,000 Mississipians looking for a job can’t find one. Labor analysts say one reason behind the drop is over 40,000 people have re-entered the job market since December.

Mississippi still has the fifth highest unemployment number in the country. The jobless rate in April 2014 was 7.7 percent, the worst in the nation.