In August, Mississippi’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a Job Openings and Labor Turnover report for August 2022. The number of job openings decreased to 10.1 million on the last business day of August, BLS reported, and hires and total separations were little changed at 6.3 million and 6.0 million, respectively.
Within separations, quits (4.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.5 million) were little changed.
On the last business day of August, the number and rate of job openings decreased to 10.1 million (-1.1 million) and 6.2 percent, respectively. The largest decreases in job openings were in health care and social assistance (-236,000), other services (-183,000), and retail trade (-143,000).
The number of hires was little changed at 6.3 million, and the rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent. Hires decreased in federal government (-8,000).
BLS said separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Other separations include separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.
According to a Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) report:
- Mississippi lost 8,300 net payroll jobs and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent in August.
- Over the past twelve months, Mississippi added 11,800 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate fell by 1.7 percentage points from 5.3 percent.
- In August, Mississippi’s private sector lost 4,000 net private payroll jobs and over the past twelve months it added 15,600 private payroll jobs in the establishment survey.
- In the household survey, the number of unemployed fell by 840 on net in August, and over the past year employment rose by 34,618.
- Mississippi’s labor force participation rate fell to 55.3 percent in August from 55.5 percent. Since last year, the labor force participation rate rose by 0.4 percentage point.
“The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August 2022 was 3.6 percent, unchanged over the month,” the Mississippi Labor Market Data report said. “The rate decreased 1.7 percentages point when compared to the August 2021 rate of 5.3 percent. The Nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 3.7 percent decreased two-tenths of a percentage point over the month and 1.5 percentage points from the year ago rate of 5.2 percent.”
In August 2022, the Civilian Labor Force, which consists of everyone who has a job or is looking for a job, decreased 2,400 over the month and the number of unemployed Mississippians fell over the month by 800.
“The number of unemployed Mississippians is the least unemployed since the series started in 1976,” the report continued.
In August 2022, the number of jobs in Mississippi decreased 8,300 from July, according to the seasonally adjusted results from a survey of Mississippi employers. Since August 2021, the number of jobs has increased 11,800.
For the month of August 2022, thirty-four counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 3.8 percent.
Rankin and Union counties posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of August at 2.7 percent followed by Lamar County at 2.8 percent. Jefferson County had the highest unemployment rate for August at 14.3 percent followed by Claiborne County at 9.0 percent.
The state employment and unemployment data for September is scheduled for release October 21, 2022.
The national employment situation report for September will be released October 7, 2022.
According to the September ADP National Employment Report produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, private sector employment increased by 208,000 jobs in September and annual pay was up 7.8% year-over-year.
The report showed job growth picked up in September.
“Businesses created 208,000 jobs in September, up from a revised 185,000 in August, as schools reopened and pandemic concerns receded,” the report said. “But while job growth is stable, it remains below the recent three-month average.”
“We are continuing to see steady job gains,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “While job stayers saw a pay increase, annual pay growth for job changers in September is down from August.”
Anne Summerhays
