More Mississippians Working in January than December
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March 13, 2013
JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Department of Employment Security announced today that more Mississippians were employed in January 2013 than in December 2012, about 4,600 more according to preliminary numbers. The gain continues the upward trend in the state. The number of people employed in Mississippi in January 2013 is up 14,700 from a year ago in January 2012.
At the same time, the preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the state was 9.3 percent, up from 8.6 percent the month before. A year ago, the rate for January 2012 was 10 percent.
The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2013 was 7.9 percent.
“Although it may seem strange that the number of people working and the unemployment rate can both move upward, the fact is that those two figures are calculated using two separate surveys by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,” comments Mark Henry, MDES Executive Director. “Unemployment is calculated by a random survey of households and the number of people working is based on a survey of employers.”
Additionally, BLS does not count someone who is out of work but not looking for a job as unemployed. The latest Mississippi figures indicate more people are beginning to search for jobs; therefore, they are now counted as unemployed.
