Mississippi’s unemployment rate has increased for the year despite new job opportunities on the Gulf Coast. The unemployment rate for the state has been steadily climbing for the past five years.
In July of 2005 the unemployment rate stood at 7.4 percent and has climbed to 8.3 percent this past July.
Though Hurricane Katrina created a need for many more construction and restoration related job opportunities, the unemployment rate on the Gulf Coast has also increased from 6 percent in July of 2005 to 11.3 percent in July of 2006.
The construction employment on the Coast has risen, but since many of the workers come from firms from other parts of the state as well as out of state, the numbers for unemployment are still increasing at a very steady pace.
Despite the need for many jobs, especially those involved in construction, the unemployment rate in Harrison County alone has experienced a 5.7 percent increase from July 2005 to July 2006 according to the Labor Market Data report for July 2006 prepared by the Labor Market Information Department. According to Gov. Haley Barbour’s spokesman Pete Smith, “Southern Mississippi is experiencing a labor shortage,” which accounts for some of the unemployment numbers.
“There has undoubtedly been an increase in employment on the coastal areas of Mississippi related to debris removal and reconstruction,” Mississippi College Board senior economist Marianne Hill said.
“However, many of those jobs are going to persons from out of town, and it is hard for the Mississippi Department of Employment Security to capture all of the increase in employment in those areas. At the same time, jobs have been lost in tourism-related areas, particularly related to casinos, and in addition to that, some residents have not yet been able to return, which explains why numbers don’t show employment back at pre-Katrina levels.”
A large factor in the current unemployment rates for Mississippi is the fact that a lot of industry on the Coast is not back up and running. The casinos on the Coast generated a few thousand jobs.
“Once the casinos get back online, we will see a big drop in the unemployment rate,” Stennis Institute director Marty Wiseman said.
Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of job displacement for the year, so the unemployment rates will reflect that, Wayne Gasson, chief of Labor Market Information, said.
“We are still really seeing the aftershock of Katrina. When the casinos go back online, our unemployment rate will begin to even out and go back to pre-Katrina numbers,” Gasson added.
The state of Mississippi is making efforts to help the unemployment rate decrease. Desoto County has plans of initially hiring around 3,500 employees in the River-Bend project. Other industry projects involved in Mississippi include a company, Sevecorr coming to the Tupelo area and potentially hiring 450 employees to start.
“The numbers can be misleading,” Pete Smith said. “We are experiencing a record number of growth economy wise.”