The state reaches unemployment rate of 4.6% in January 2022.
Last week, a State Employment and Unemployment report conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that ten states hit record-low unemployment rates in January 2022, including Mississippi.
The BLS report showed that Nebraska and Utah had the lowest unemployment rates in the nation in January, but that Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma and West Virginia all set new records for the lowest unemployment rates since 1976.
In January 2021, Mississippi had an unemployment rate of 6.6% which dropped significantly by 2 points to 4.6% in January 2022.
Unemployment rates were lower in 19 states and stable in 29 states. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier and one state was little changed.
The report states:
“Nebraska and Utah had the lowest jobless rates in January, 2.2 percent each. The next lowest rates were in Indiana, 2.4 percent, and Kansas, 2.6 percent. The rates in these four states set new series lows, as did the rates in the following six states (all state series begin in 1976): Arkansas (3.2 percent), Georgia (3.2 percent), Mississippi (4.6 percent), Montana (2.7 percent), Oklahoma (2.7 percent), and West Virginia (4.1 percent). The District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 6.3 percent, followed by New Mexico, 5.9 percent, and California, 5.8 percent. In total, 18 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.0 percent, 14 states and the District had higher rates, and 18 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.”
The Hill reported that Mississippi, among several other states, are set to pass their pre-pandemic employment totals in the next couple of months. The group of states have just a few thousand jobs less than they did during the pandemic.
“The historic hiring spree continues in Mississippi,” Governor Tate Reeves said on Twitter, sharing The Hill headline.
The historic hiring spree continues in Mississippi!https://t.co/KsRrVVKn1M pic.twitter.com/WONOp4P7MS
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 20, 2022
In a BLS Employment Situation Summary report released on March 4, 2022, data showed that in February the total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8%.
“There is broad growth in the economy, with 1.2 million jobs added in 2022,” the U.S. Department of Labor reported.
In February, the unemployment rate was 3.8% and we added 678,000 jobs. There is broad growth in the economy, with 1.2 million jobs added in 2022. https://t.co/YhLEuaacSN pic.twitter.com/GUCoadrw2d
— U.S. Department of Labor (@USDOL) March 4, 2022
Anne Summerhays
