There’s some good economic news for Mississippi: The number of jobs in the state is rising, as is the percentage of working-age people who are employed.
A recent column by Russ Latino on the Magnolia Tribune website noted both trends. He wrote that the state’s number of jobs has risen by 78,000 since 2015, and is up by nearly 50,000 since the employment numbers just before the covid-19 pandemic.
In turn, the labor force participation rate, which tracks the percentage of a state’s residents over age 16 with a job, is up noticeably in the past year. In April, 56.2% of working-age Mississippi residents had a job — a solid gain from the state’s 54.8% rate in April 2024.
Latino noted that Mississippi has separated itself from a battle with West Virginia (54.3%) for last place in the nation. But there is still plenty of room for improvement.
The national labor force participation rate was 62.6% in April. A total of 12 states, most of them in the South, had figures below 60%. Mississippi, unfortunately, ranks 11th out of those 12, meaning it still ranks 50th among the states and Washington, D.C.
This hides something positive that Latino pointed out: The state is reporting both more jobs and more income. Median household income in Mississippi is up by 19% since 2019, and today’s residents have 4% more purchasing power than they did six years ago.
“A lot of work remains, both to sustain current gains and to build on them,” Latino wrote. “But for now, it seems like investments in workforce and economic development, pro-growth tax reform, and deregulation are paying dividends. It’s worth recognizing.”
