“Mississippi’s unemployment rates are near the lowest ever recorded in state history.” Bryant spoke via Twitter during his speech. Bryant stated that he came to office with unemployment levels of over 9 percent. Now, we are at 4.7 percent. However, this number does not reflect the whole state’s economic situation. Although the number of people working is high, the actual size of the workforce is still relatively small compared to other states. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mississippi’s labor participation rate was 55.9 percent in June. This is the lowest state, other than West Virginia, which had 54 percent. The statistic refers to the number of people in the labor force who are either working or looking for a job, divided by the civilian, non-institutionalized population, ages 16 years and over. This means that just half of eligible workers in the state are actively involved in the economy. Corey Miller, an economist with the University Research Center (a division of the state Institutions of Higher Learning), said that a low labor participation was a sign that the economy isn’t performing as well as the rest of the country. He said that the low participation rate has a negative impact on the economy. It can lead to lower gross domestic product, lower tax revenues and lower economic activity. This is because there are many people who don’t participate in the economy. The annual average participation rate in Mississippi has fallen since 1995 when it was at 63%. Since 1974, when the BLS began collecting data, Mississippi’s participation rate has been lower than the national average. Pete Walley, a retired economist from the state, stated that the low rate was a reflection of the state’s workers or “human capital” and the number of jobs available. Walley said, “It’s an indicator of the labor force’s capacity.” Now you ask yourself, “Is it a chicken? Or an egg?” Are you able to get more labor and get better jobs? Or do you have better labor that allows you to get more jobs and raises the labor force? The arrow may point in either direction. “(The participation ratio) is an indicator for the state’s aggregate human capital. It really means that people lack the skills to participate in the current economy. Phil Bryant, who boasts the state’s low unemployment rate every month that a new jobs report comes out, is a fan of Mississippi Works. Scott Waller, President & CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council, stressed the importance of training programs to match people with the right jobs. Waller stated, “It is extremely important that we increase our workforce.” “When there is such a low unemployment rate and so many jobs, we must make sure that we are focusing on getting the right training for our citizens to enable them to be productive members of our workforce. This is the bottom line. There are many jobs, but if we want to attract more, we need to ensure that we have the right workforce. Walley cautioned that government training often falls behind in teaching skills that will be useful for future workers. He said, “We’re in a very, really fast pace now. That means that no matter how hard the government sector tries to prepare you for the future, they’re always behind.” They’re looking back at the past and saying “Let’s get prepared for that,” but it’s already happening. You have to look ahead, I think. There are many theories about artificial intelligence and robotics machines’ impact on the economy, but they will provide roughly the same amount of jobs as they are weeding out. To describe Mississippi’s “human capital,” Walley also cited large Mississippi manufacturing companies like Nissan and Toyota. Walley stated that the real problem is economics. “Why don’t employers raise their wages a bit to attract more people?” Then you find yourself in an economic bind, asking, “Can I make money?” In labor terms, the employer is bound by their ability to sell their product at a price that accurately reflects the value of the labor. Mississippi isn’t as competitive in terms of paying employees, and that’s due to the state’s human capital. Why is Nissan here? Businesses look for the best labor at the lowest price. So why is Mississippi’s labor participation rate and human capital lower than other states. Miller of URC cited a few reasons. He stated that “we know the factors that make people not work, and we know more in Mississippi than other states.” “Disability” is one of those. It is known that Mississippi has lower high school graduation rates than the national average. Walley also agreed with Miller that there are other factors, such as race. He added that high levels of poverty and incarceration rates were contributing factors. According to the Department of Corrections in Mississippi, which is the poorest state in the country, African-American men make up 59 per cent of the prison population. This despite only 18 percent of the population. The data below, which is based on scatter plots, shows the extent of the correlation between these factors and the labor participation rates. Both poverty rate and the number of disability recipients have strong negative correlations with labor participation (both 72 percent). This means that the higher these factors are, the lower the participation rate. The participation rate and high school graduation rate have a strong positive correlation (71%). The charts show that there is a slight correlation between the participation rate and the incarceration rates, but very little with the African-American male population. MEC’s Waller is convinced that workforce training programs can increase the participation rate. However, Mississippi needs a fresh strategy. He cited a quote from his fridge: “Something must change for something to happen.”