Miss. down 6,700 non-farm jobs in year - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Miss. down 6,700 non-farm jobs in year

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi labor department says the start of the school year gave the only real boost to non-farm employment in September.

The Department of Employment Security said the state, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, had 6,700 fewer jobs from a year ago.

A 2,500-job loss in mining and logging, construction and manufacturing from August to September was offset by a 5,500-job gain in the service sector. Of that gain, 3,900 came in education.

Goods-producing jobs are down 6,300 over the past 12 months, while the service-providing sector has lost 400.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Mississippi's jobless rate stood at 9.8% in September. That's down from 10% in August and 10% in September 2009.

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