(The Center Square) – The unemployment rate in Mississippi in March dropped slightly to 3%, but the state’s labor force participation rate continues to be one of the nation’s worst.

That’s down from February’s 3.1%.

The Mississippi Department of Employment Security’s monthly workforce report shows a gain of 10,000 non-farm jobs for the year to date compared to the same time period last year. Compared to March 2023, the state’s workforce expanded by 6,300 jobs, going from 1.17 million employed to 1.18 million.

Neighboring states Arkansas (3.5%), Tennessee (3.2%) and Louisiana (4.4%) were not much different. North Dakota had the nation’s lowest unemployment rate at 2%.

Workforce participation rate for March was 53.7%, holding steady from February. The national rate is 62.7%.

Biggest gaining job sectors in March included construction (up 2.2% from last March) and leisure and hospitality (up 2%).

Among the state’s metropolitan areas, the Gulf Coast had a job gain of 1.4% or 2,300 newly employed in March compared to the same time last year. The Hattiesburg area had no job gains in March thanks to a loss of 100 manufacturing jobs, while the Jackson metro area’s job gain was a negligible 0.3% while adding 900 positions.

Initial unemployment claims were 4,242 in March, down from 5,004 in March 2023. Continuing gains increased to 27,128 in March to 23,644 in March 2023.

The state’s leading employers include trade, transportation and utilities (244,900 workers or 20.6% of the state’s workforce), government (241,000 or 20.3%), education and health services (155,900 or 13.1%), manufacturing (144,600 or 12.2%) and leisure and hospitality (135,500 or 11.4%).