Unemployment Rates and Employment Searches

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Unemployment rates are still at an all time low Mississippi.

Earlier in the year, numbers were below 5%.

In February, Mississippi saw its lowest unemployment rate ever, coming in at 4.5%.

Although numbers show that more people are employed in the state than ever before, some job seekers say those numbers are misleading.

“For a while there, we had some unemployment issues just because of the businesses being low in this area, but right now, businesses are booming. Especially, on the manufacturing side and yes, they are requiring skilled workers,” says EMCC Recruiting Coordinator Tawana Bauer.

Bauer says she believes businesses are being a little pickier about who they’re hiring.

Patrick Fogarty has been on the hunt for a manufacturing job for about year now.

“A lot of the factories around here, are looking for some people with at least two years of experience, so even with the WorkKeys Course, I am going to have, I’m probably going to have to move away and get a job somewhere else, before I can even come here and work.”

Forgarty says most of the job openings he’s applied for either require experience or less than forty hours of work a week.

“There are a lot of, a lot of part-time jobs. I could get fired from my job right now, and then find another job in a week. The real problem is finding jobs that are, that pay you living wages and also include benefits.”

This job seeker is in the market for an administrative position.

She says she doesn’t think the job numbers tell the whole story.

“I know a lot of people who are looking for work and a lot of people find jobs, but it’s not the job they really want and I really would like to do one that I went to school for,” says Zibiah Cunningham.

Bauer says there are full-time jobs out there, but applicants may not hear about those spots as often.

She says some people may think applying for jobs online is a waste of time, but says it gets your name out there to potential employers.

“Now, following up with those online applications, making sure that you submitted all of the supplement items that the application requires, that’s where people tend to kind of slack off, but absolutely not, most businesses are doing everything online.”

This time last year, the unemployment rate in Mississippi was 5.3%.