JACKSON – Mississippi’s total nonfarm employment reached a record high of 1,199,800 jobs in August, while the state’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly two years, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Friday.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.4%, its lowest level since September 2024, according to a Sept. 18 news release.
“This has been another historic week for Mississippi,” Reeves said, pointing to the employment figures and a recently announced expansion by Hitachi Energy.
On Tuesday, Reeves announced that Hitachi Energy plans to invest $528 million and create 654 jobs in Copiah County. The project is the largest investment in the company’s history, according to the release.
Reeves also said more than $86 billion in new private-sector investment has been announced in Mississippi since he took office in 2020.
The release cited additional economic measures, including a nearly 20% increase in job openings in Mississippi since 2020, compared with a 9.6% decline in the state average nationwide.
The August employment figure counts nonfarm payroll jobs, while the unemployment rate measures the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed.
