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Percentage of Mississippians working in October was among lowest in state’s history

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1 year ago

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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.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Senate passes redistricting that puts DeSoto Republican, Tunica Democrat in same district, calls for 10 new elections

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4 hours ago

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February 26, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2025-02-26 17:17:00

Senate passes redistricting that puts DeSoto Republican, Tunica Democrat in same district, calls for 10 new elections

by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today
February 26, 2025

Voters from 10 Senate districts will have to re-decide in November special elections who should represent them in Jackson, pending court approval, under a resolution the Senate approved on Wednesday. 

The chamber passed the plan 33-16. Two Democrats joined with the GOP majority to support the plan, while three Republicans joined with the Democratic minority to oppose it. 

Even though voters just elected members of the Legislature in 2023, the 10 races will be held again because a three-judge federal panel determined last year that the Legislature did not create enough Black-majority districts when it redrew its districts.

The panel ordered the state to redraw the districts and create a new majority-Black district in the DeSoto County area in the Forrest County area. 

Senate Rules Committee Chairman Dean Kirby, a Republican from Pearl, told senators that the newly redrawn map complies with federal law and will allow Black voters in the two areas to elect a candidate of their choice. 

“It’s not a partisan ordeal,” Kirby said. “We have a court order, and we’re going to comply.” 

The map creates one new majority-Black district each in DeSoto County and Forrest County, with no incumbent senator in either district. To account for this, the plan also pits two pairs of incumbents against one another in newly redrawn districts. 

The proposal puts Sen. Michael McLendon, a Republican from Hernando, who is white and Sen. Reginald Jackson, a Democrat from Marks, who is Black, in the same district. The redrawn District 1 contains a Black voting-age population of 52.4%. 

McLendon spoke against the proposal, arguing the process for was not transparent and it was not fair to the city of Hernando, his home city. 

“I don’t want to be pushed out of here,” McLendon said. 

The plan also puts Sen. Chris Johnson and Sen. John Polk, two Republicans from the Hattiesburg area, in the District 44 seat.  Polk announced on the Senate floor that he would not run in the special election, making Jonson the only incumbent running in the race. 

  • The full list of the Senate districts that were redrawn are: 
  • Senate District 1: Sen. Michael McLendon, R-Hernando, and Sen. Reginald Jackson, D-Marks
  • Senate District 2: David Parker, R-Olive Branch 
  • Senate District 10: Neil Whaley, R-Potts Camp 
  • Senate District 11: New Senate district with no incumbent 
  • Senate District 19: Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven 
  • Senate District 34: Sen. Juan Barnett, D-Heidelburg 
  • Senate District 41: Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall 
  • Senate District 42: Sen. Robin Robinson, R-Laurel 
  • Senate District 44:  Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, Sen. Chris Johnson, R-Hattiesburg 
  • Senate District 45: New district with no incumbent 

McLendon and Sen. Derrick Simmons, a Democrat from Greenville, offered amendments that proposed revised maps, but both alternatives were rejected. 

Simmons, the Senate’s Democratic leader, opposed the plan the Senate passed Thursday because he does not believe any incumbent senators should be paired in the same district.

The House earlier in the session approved a plan that redrew five districts in north Mississippi and made the House district in Chickasaw County a majority-Black district. 

Sen. Kirby told reporters he believes the House and the Senate have a “gentleman’s agreement” to pass the other chambers’ plan, which has historically been the custom. 

Under the legislation, the qualifying period for new elections would run from May 19 to May 30. The primary election will be held on August 5, with a potential primary runoff on September 2 and the general election on November 4.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has no direct say in legislative redistricting, so once the Legislature passes a redistricting plan, it will go back before the federal courts for approval. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Convicted killer whose parole sparked outrage dies in car crash

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8 hours ago

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February 26, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2025-02-26 13:31:00

Mississippi let a double murderer go free. Twice.

Now he is dead, and an older couple is injured.

In May 2023, the Mississippi Parole Board released James Williams III — 18 years after he was convicted of fatally shooting his father, James Jr., and stepmother, Cindy Lassiter Mangum. Williams had previously tried to poison them to death.

His parole faced pushback from the victims’ family, community members and lawmakers. 

At the time, Zeno Magnum, whose mother was killed by Williams, decried the Parole Board’s decision. “He murdered ‘em, threw ‘em in trash bags, put them in Rubbermaid trash cans and threw ‘em out like the trash,” he said. “We are concerned not only for our personal safety, but also for the safety of anyone who may come in contact with this psychopath.”

Parole Board Chairman Jeffrey Belk defended the Parole Board’s decision, saying they received no objection from the family or others at the time — a claim that Magnum’s family disputed.

Less than five months after his parole, he got drunk and wrecked his car on Oct. 20, 2023, the same day of the Brandon-Pearl high school football game, Magnum said. “There were people everywhere. He’s very fortunate he didn’t kill anybody.”

Williams’ parole was revoked, and he returned to prison. 

A month later, the Parole Board found that by violating the law, he violated a condition of his parole. Three of four members voted to return him to prison for a year, according to court records, and Belk cast the lone “no” vote.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Debra Gibbs vacated the Parole Board’s decision to return Williams to prison for at least a year for violating parole. 

“Mr. Williams has already served more than ninety (90) days in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections,” the judge wrote. “Therefore – unless he is held pursuant to some other sentence or order – he SHALL BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY from the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and returned to parole.” 

The judge agreed with Williams’ argument that his DUI misdemeanor constituted a technical violation of his parole, meaning that 90 days was the maximum period he could be imprisoned for a first-time technical violation. The judge’s decision matched a recent attorney general’s office opinion on the subject.

When word came that Williams might go free again, Cindy Mangum’s sister, Barbara Rankin, said her family set up a Sept. 16, 2024, meeting with Parole Board members, she said. “They let him out a week before we were set to go.”

Around noon Saturday, Williams met his death near Sanctuary Drive. The 39-year-old was driving his 2009 Honda Civic north on Will Stutely Drive when he collided with a 2019 GMC Sierra that contained Curtis Jones, 73, and his 72-year-old wife, Ruth, who were traveling east, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Williams was pronounced dead on the scene. Paramedics transported the couple to St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson. Their injuries remain unknown, and the patrol continues to investigate to determine if Williams had been intoxicated.

“The ironic thing,” Zeno Magnum said, “is if he was still in prison, he would be alive.”

The whole ordeal has been “cloaked in secrecy,” he said. “My mom was killed, and it was like pulling teeth to get information on it. It was tough even for me as her son to get information.”

Williams’ death has brought him a wide range of emotions. On one hand, he doesn’t want to celebrate the loss of a human being, he said, but on the other hand, the death “does bring my family and I a great deal of closure.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Crooked Letter Sports Podcast

Podcast: Three Mississippi teams in the Top 25 D-1 Baseball poll

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8 hours ago

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February 26, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – Rick Cleveland and Tyler Cleveland – 2025-02-26 12:00:00

Southern Miss and Ole Miss got some welcomed news as both joined Mississippi State, giving the Magnolia State three teams in this week;s college baseball poll. Otherwise, the college basketball grind continues and the best high school basketball teams converge on Jackson for the annual MHSAA boys and girls state tournament.

Stream all episodes here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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