Mississippi Jobless Rate Drops

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi’s unemployment rate ticked down in January, but a yearly rebalancing of the jobless figures has once again left the state with the nation’s worst jobless rate.

The jobless rate fell to 6.7 percent from 6.8 in December, as the labor force continued an expansion and more people found work. It was level with the 6.7 percent rate of January 2015. But revised figures show that more workers are coming into the labor force than are finding jobs.

A separate survey shows Mississippi payrolls fell slightly in January, although payrolls remained 15,000 above January 2015.

Both sets of figures – adjusted to cancel out seasonal changes – were released Monday by the U.S. Labor Department.

There were 88,000 Mississippians unemployed in January, flat from December and 4,000 above January 2015.