Mississippi misses Top 10 furlough list

Although the Defense Department’s furloughed-worker numbers in Mississippi didn’t land the state in the Top 10 of the most-affected states list, Mississippi’s adjutant general says the hardest-hit area will be in Jackson where 1,400 civilians work at the Mississippi National Guard headquarters. Elsewhere across the state, some 5,500 DoD civilians will begin 11 days of forced, unpaid leave on July 8. DoD is furloughing about 680,000 civilians across America. The Magnolia State’s next door neighbor, Alabama, ranks No. 7 on the most-affected states list with 22,600 furloughs and an estimated economic impact in lost wages of about $74 million. Florida is No. 6 with an impact in lost wages of about $94 million from 28,500 workers. Source: The Associated Press and Bloomberg News, May 29-30, 2013.