The local economy of Mississippi and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
3.4%
August 2026, 3.7% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,051
Q1 2026, 1,162,883 jobs
New homes permitted
8,718
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
-3,109
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Mississippi, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Mississippi is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Mississippi was 3.4% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 3.7% a year earlier. 1,230,940 people were employed out of a labor force of 1,274,635. Among its counties, Jones County had the lowest rate (2.4%) and Jefferson County the highest (9.1%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Mississippi was $1,051 in Q1 2026, up 3.3% from a year earlier, across 1,162,883 jobs at 93,255 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 661 new homes in Mississippi in August 2026 (609 single-family and 39 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 5,837, up 9.5% from the same months last year, and 8,718 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Harrison County (2,180), DeSoto County (910), Jackson County (882) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 57,236 people moved to Mississippi and 60,345 moved away, a net loss of 3,109 (-1.4 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, and most people who left went to Tennessee, Texas, Alabama.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for Mississippi. In its region, Gulf Coast, regular gasoline averaged $3.92 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.