Unemployment Jumps Again, But Towns Try to Stay Positive

Mississippi’s unemployment rate jumped again in May. But there are still pockets of good news. MPB’s Cari Gervin reports.

Unemployment soared one whole percent in Mississippi from April to May, up to 9.6 percent. That’s half a percentage point higher than the national average and almost three points higher than the May unemployment rate in 2008.

Even worse, 54 of the state’s 81 counties had unemployment rates in the double-digits.

And other economic news continues to be grim. Paccar announced Friday it won’t open its new Columbus plant until 2010 – it was supposed to open later this year and employ 500 people to build engines.

So when there is good news, like when plastics company United Solutions announced it will be hiring 20 people in the small town of Sardis, it gets a lot of attention. Mayor Rusty Dye:

"Any jobs are an impact to the city, if it’s one job or 20 or 50. And we need jobs in Panola County – not just in Sardis but all Panola County."

Dye says he's trying to land even more jobs in the area.

And the Mississippi Development Authority is encouraged by the news. But spokesperson Sally Williams says the key is keeping the jobs already here.

"We’re really focusing a lot of our efforts on job retention. We are not stopping our recruitment efforts, we’re still trying to bring, you know, new jobs and new investments to the state, and that is ongoing."

Many economists predict unemployment will reach 10 percent nationally later this year. For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin in Oxford.