Beyond Modernization: Unemployment Insurance in Mississippi
While the recession of 2007 is technically over, its effects remain in Mississippi. In June of 2010, over 145,000 Mississippians were unemployed.1 While the unemployment rate has declined moderately in recent months, it has steadily risen since the start of the recession.
Responding to the recession and the associated challenges of losing one’s job, the U.S. Congress passed and the U.S. President signed into law the American Recovery and Rein- vestment Act (ARRA). As a result, Mississippians who lost their job through no fault of their own saw increases in the weekly unemployment insur- ance (UI) amount and received additional weeks for which they could receive UI payments.
