Mississippi records historic job count but economic uncertainty still clouds labor market

by

Shamira Muhammad

• Published on October 1, 2025 • Last modified on November 8, 2025

Construction workers lift dirt with shovels — Workers fill a channel with gravel and dirt after laying cable for a housing site under construction in Flowood, Miss., Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021.
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Preliminary data shows Mississippi’s August job count at more than 1.2 million, a historic high, a historic high for the state. According to the State Department of Employment Security, there’s been an increase of about 2,700 jobs from the previous month. However, economic uncertainty is still having an effect on the labor market.

Corey Miller is Mississippi’s state economist.

“Like most of the country, I think Mississippi's labor market is probably slowed,” he said. “We've seen over the past few months just not as much activity.”

Shamira Muhammad

Mississippi's labor market

Mississippi currently ranks 49th in the country for its labor force participation rate, but Miller believes Mississippi’s labor force rates have historically been low. He says the state’s economic activity indicates that there is both growth and challenges.

“We aren't seeing as many jobs added, but we're also not seeing people being laid off,” he said. “Our unemployment claims in Mississippi are still below the average monthly numbers we had in 2019.”

Mississippi’s unemployment rate has remained at 3.9 percent over the past two months, a higher number than this time last year. Miller says it’s a relatively low unemployment rate that could be indicative of other things.

“Some of that is because people have come back into the labor force looking for work,” he said.

Miller believes tariffs may have contributed to slowed growth in Mississippi’s manufacturing sector and natural factors may have played a role in the agriculture sector. Conversely, the state’s construction and health care industries were large contributors to added jobs in August.