New unemployment compensation claims rose slightly across the country last week, and Mississippi is not bucking that trend.
The U.S. Department of Labor released its latest Unemployment Compensation Claims report, which showed an increase of 7,000 new claims filed across the country the week ending Jan. 1, pushing the grand total to 207,000.
In Mississippi, there was a slight increase in new claims.
For the week ending Jan. 1, the state saw 1,338 new claims filed, which was an increase of 260 from the prior week’s total of 1,078.
On the flip side, there was a drop of 451 total insured claims filed for the week ending Dec. 25, 2021, with 5,039 advance claims filed, compared to 5,490 the previous week.
The national unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sits at 3.9% for November 2021. Mississippi’s unemployment rate is currently 5%, ranking 32nd in the nation.
