Only three times since the federal government began tracking the labor force participation rate in the mid-1970s have a lower percentage of eligible Mississippi workers been employed than in October.
Mississippi, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, had the lowest labor force participation rate in the nation of 53.9% in October. The national rate was more than 62%.
Mississippi’s lowest monthly labor force participation rate occurred for three consecutive months in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, said state economist Corey Miller, who spoke Monday to the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government/Capitol Press Corps luncheon.
The labor force participation rate measures the number of eligible workers who are employed. A higher labor force participation rate generally means a stronger economy with more people with income to spend thus generating more tax revenue, Miller said. Since 2013, Mississippi has either been 49th or 50th among the states in labor force participation rates. Still, the October rate was troublesome, Miller said.
“Frankly, in my opinion, the rate of 53.9% is startlingly low given current economic conditions,” Miller told the lunch crowd. “While I am admittedly hypothesizing, recent data seem to indicate the lack of population growth in Mississippi is exerting downward pressure on the rate.
“If so, focusing on the lack of population growth in the state is even more paramount, as it is beginning to result in immediate negative economic impact.”
As the population ages, Miller said, fewer workers in the prime employment age (16 to 54) are available to fill the void. But the population in the prime employment age of 25 to 54 is growing nationwide by 1% while decreasing in Mississippi by 2.7%. In other words, there are fewer people in the prime employment age to participate in the workforce.
“Population is another challenge for the state to overcome that involves public policy addressing quality of life issues to ultimately generate a more robust and dynamic economy,” Miller said.
Miller said Mississippi is not unusual among surrounding states in that about 3% of its population routinely migrates out each year. The difference, he said, is that most states, unlike Mississippi, have more people migrating in than out.
Other factors that Miller said might negatively impacts Mississippi’s labor force participation rate include:
- Lower educational attainment levels.
- The state’s high incarceration rates.
- Poor health care outcomes resulting in the highest percentage of disabled people in the nation.
The lower education rates among impoverished minority populations could also be a factor since the state has the highest percentage of Black residents in the nation.
Miller conceded that many of the issues impacting Mississippi’s labor force participation rates require a long-term fix, such as improving the education attainment level. But he said a continuing focus on workforce training could help improve the work force participation rate and better child-care opportunities also might help.