Emergency Grant Brings Temp Jobs to Mississippi

The storms and flooding that have devastated Mississippi recently have only added to the economic problems in that state.  With an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent (more than a percentage point higher than the national average), the economic recovery slowly taking hold in other parts of the country was already having trouble finding it’s way to Mississippi even before the storms hit.

In addition to President Obama declaring the state a disaster area, the U.S. Department of Labor is also trying to give the state some support.  On Friday, they announced a $7 million National Emergency Grant to assist clean-up and recovery efforts in the wake of severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding that struck Mississippi last month.

“The Department of Labor is part of a broad team of federal agencies focused on helping the state of Mississippi with efforts to clean up and recover from the devastation left in the path of this storm,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The impacted communities need and deserve our help, and it is my hope that today’s grant will help the people of Mississippi move forward.”

The funds are being awarded to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and will be used to create temporary jobs to assist in recovery efforts.

These temporary jobs will help in the short term clean up efforts, but with a bleak economic outlook in the longer term, the state is going to need to add some permanent jobs soon.