How many on Coast are still unemployed during pandemic? Here are the latest numbers.
Saturday marks four months since the first case of coronavirus was reported in Mississippi, and economists say U.S. jobs and the economy have started to bounce back more quickly than expected.
The latest numbers released Thursday show the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the U.S. is 12.4% for the week ending June 27, down from 12.9% the previous week.
From a pandemic high of 22 million, there are still 18 million people nationwide collecting unemployment, a drop of 698,000 from the previous week.
Mississippi has 141,667 people collecting unemployment as of July 4, down 5,957 from the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The number topped 300,000 at the height of the pandemic shutdown.
Unemployment numbers are reported in weekly and monthly reports, with the June report for Mississippi due out in a couple of weeks.
Gov. Tate Reeves frequently noted the impact that the coronavirus pandemic and his Safer At Home orders had on on jobs in Mississippi.
“We went from less than 1,000 up to 45,000 new claims last week,” Reeves said on April 24.
The $600 bonus
The $600-a-week federal unemployment payment is due to stop at the end of July. That extra payment — combined with the $235 maximum benefit in Mississippi — is more than many people earn while working.
Mississippi law requires employers to report within 10 days any person who refuses to return to work. To help enforce the rule, MDES created a new Restart MS website that officials say will help prevent improper unemployment payments and help revive Mississippi’s workforce.
Here are the numbers for unemployment for the Coast and state since the first case of the coronavirus was reported in Mississippi on March 11.
Mississippi Coast unemployment numbers
▪ 74,255 people in the six Coast counties filed first-time claims in the 15 weeks from mid-March to the end of June, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
▪ Harrison County had the most with 36,479, followed by Jackson County with 22,003.
▪ 9,215 was the highest total new claims for the week ending April 4.
▪ 6,123 new claims were filed the week of May 9. They’ve dropped every week since.
▪ The number of people unemployed fell by 13,050 from April to May, from 39,460 to 26,390, according to MDES.
▪ The unemployment rate decreased dramatically in all six counties from April to May, according to the latest jobs report released by the MDES on June 23:
George – 15.1% in April to 10.8% in May
Hancock – 18.2% to 12.7%
Harrison – 22.8% to 15.9%
Jackson – 21% to 14.9%
Pearl River – 12.6% to 9.5%
Stone – 12.6% to 10.2%
Unemployment in Mississippi
▪ The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2020 was 10.6%, down from 16.3% in April.
▪ The rate a year ago in May 2019 was 5.4%
▪ A large part of that decrease came when the casinos reopened May 21.
▪ 11,850 initial claims were filed for the week ending July 4, as the coronavirus continues to spur layoffs.
▪ That is down 1,823 from the previous week.
▪ Mississippi was one of 11 states with a decrease of 1,000 jobs or more from the previous week.
