Unemployment down in MS, AL, LA

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its State Employment and Unemployment Summary for April. Unemployment rates were lower in 13 states and stable in 37. The national unemployment rate (3.6%) was unchanged over the previous month and at 2.4 percentage points lower than April 2021. Mississippi's unemployment rate for April was 4.1%. Mississippi stands at a 2.1 percent decrease from April 2021. Alabama set a new unemployment record of 2.8%. It was 2.9% in March. Lamar (2%) and Pickens (2.6%) counties, in far west Alabama, both saw drops in unemployment.  The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Louisiana in April was 3.5%, which is the lowest rate ever recorded since 1976. The rate shows a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the revised March not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.8%. (Sources: DoL/WCBI/KATC/Star Herald 05/20/22)