Jackson Free Press

The Mississippi unemployment roles swelled in January to 9.2 percent, a rate higher than the national average of 8.5 percent. In December, the state reported a 7.6 percent rate.

Every county reported an increase in unemployment, with 29 counties in the double digits. In several counties, the rate climbed to nearly 20 percent, including Jefferson County at 19 percent, Holmes at 19.4 percent and Tunica topping the list at 19.5 percent.

Closer to home, Rankin and Madison counties have some of the lowest employment in the state, with 5.8 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively. Rankin County reported the lowest unemployment numbers in the state. The Hinds county statistic is 7.9 percent.

In total, Mississippi is paying unemployment benefits to 120,500 people, with the average weekly benefit coming in at $190.08.

Previous Commentsshow

...and this is that part of the Stimulus that Barbour doesn't want. These are frightening unemployment numbers!

justjess

Mar 5 2009

Well, Barbour is of the old Republican Guard that believes in an under-paid service class. It's not like he's ever hidden that fact. Read his book, and between the lines in it.

DonnaLadd

Mar 5 2009

The legislature is making a valiant attempt to bypass Barbour's decision. The House passed Concurrent Resolution 64, but pundits are saying it's unlikely to get past the majority Republican Senate. Maybe the Senate will surprise us and vote for the people instead of for Republican ideology. We'll see.

Ronni_Mott

Mar 5 2009

Unless I completely misunderstood Phil Bryant's comments on tv news last night, we are going to refuse the money to help the unemployed so that the state "government" won't look bad in the future if they don't have the money to continue it or have to raise taxes to fund it once the stimulus money is gone. Only an elected official could get up in front of the public and try to sell that kind of logic!

jacksonmissmom

Mar 5 2009

If these guys had to work regular jobs and lost them, they'd know how we feel.

golden eagle

Mar 5 2009

Here's an interesting twist from the folks at Facing South on the power behind the anti-stimulus movement: Big Oil. What a surprise: Public opposition to the plan was led by a group called Americans for Prosperity, which delivered 400,000 signatures on a petition to the Senate opposing the measure. ... Who is Americans for Prosperity? According to SourceWatch.org, the group was founded in 2003 with money from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, which is run by the billionaires behind Kansas-based Koch Industries -- the national's largest privately held oil and gas company. Media Transparency reports that the group gets substantial financial support from the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, another one of the Koch family foundations. It's astounding to me just how greedy these people can be. It doesn't matter who or what suffers: the poor in Mississippi or the planet by raping its resources.

Ronni_Mott

Mar 5 2009