Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Hattiesburg, MS MSA · October 2026
Every advertised-pay, job-posting and industry figure in this briefing comes from WageScape's own database of active job postings. The sources below back the external facts cited in the written analysis.
Sources cited in this report
Key Indicators
Hattiesburg MSA unemployment rate of 3.6% in June 2026
Mississippi Department of Employment Security — Most recent available metro unemployment figure
This Month's Takeaways
Mississippi WARN notices in 2026 led by manufacturing sector
LayoffData.com / LayoffIQ — State WARN Act notice tracking by industry
Local Economic Conditions
Hattiesburg MSA nonfarm employment and sector growth figures through July 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics / Mississippi Department of Employment Security — Metro-level employment data cited in pre-researched notes
Mississippi labor force participation rate of 54.4% vs national 62.2%
Joint Economic Committee / BLS — State labor force participation comparison
Looking Ahead
National wage growth of 3.0% against 3.4% inflation
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National wage and inflation comparison
Mississippi record nonfarm employment of 1,199,800 in August 2026
Office of Governor Tate Reeves — State employment milestone and Hitachi Energy investment
How the numbers are calculated
- Advertised pay is the median of the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro. It is not survey or payroll data.
- Percent changes compare the latest six full months with the six months before that, for the same metro and sector.
- Sectors group postings by the employer's industry (NAICS) classification into ten sectors. Where a metro has too few postings in a sector, the state figure is used instead.
- Role pay trends use the same comparison windows. "Stable" means a change of less than 3%; "moderate" 3–10%; "significant" more than 10%.
Official data for comparison