Mississippi

Mississippi: still on the grind

Mississippi had the 50^th worst economic performance in our 2014 EPI state rankings with the EPI score of 81.9%, or C- level. Above US-average unemployment, inflation, and budget deficit, along with low GDP growth in 2014, resulted in such a low EPI score.

Ambulatory health care services, including dentistry and outpatient health care facilities, accounts for about 4% of the state’s total GDP. As Mississippi is often ranked as one of the least healthy state’s in the country. It is no surprise that the ambulatory health care services industry is the state’s largest contributor to GDP. Agriculture is also a leading industry in Mississippi that employed over 17% of the state’s workforce in 2014, either directly or indirectly. Manufacturing also generates a large share of the state’s revenues. However, wage levels in the manufacturing sector are very low by national standards.

Unemployment at 7.5% still remained high in 2014, well above the US average. Nevertheless, unemployment has continued to steadily decline since 2010, when it reached its highest level at 10.3% in over two decades. Mississippi maintains the second highest budget deficit in the US at 9.4% both in 2013 and 2014. GDP growth was only 0.5% in 2014 and has been steadily declining since 2012.