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"There are thousands of job openings in Mississippi, yet the state's unemployment rate is one of the highest in the country.The unemployment rate in Mississippi sits at 9.2 percent, state officials said.Scottie Simmons and his classmates at the Mississippi Job Corps Center in Crystal Springs are just a small part of the staggering number of unemployed in the state.Simmons is enrolled in the program to learn to become a welder. He said he left his Glendora home because there were few opportunities.\"In my county alone, the biggest business that we have is a correctional facility, and I applied for that job twice and I did not get it,\" Simmons said.State officials said the unemployment rate represents 122,705 people who are without a job. That's roughly the populations of Gulfport and Southaven combined. What's more staggering is that number doesn't include the people relying on government assistance and not looking for work.\"If you quit looking for work, the U.S. Department of Labor no longer counts you as unemployed,\" said Mississippi Department of Employment Security Executive Director Mark Henry.\"Is it better for some people to just stay unemployed than to actually get a job?\" 16 WAPT's Meg Pace asked Henry.\"I think that that feeling is probably more widespread among people who are receiving other government benefits,\" Henry said.Henry said his job is to get steady paychecks for the thousands of Mississippians who are unemployed and who want work. So far, his department has found employment for more than 30,000 since January. But they still have a long way to go.\"We're working every day to help Mississippians find jobs,\" Henry said.Henry said there are more than 14,000 job openings in the state right now, several of which are in the Jackson area.In July, the Dallas, Texas, Police Department came to the capital city searching for Mississippians to fill their openings.\"We are about 3,600 strong right now. We are trying to get to 4,000,\" Sergio Perez, of the Dallas Police Department told 16 WAPT News in July.At the same time, the Jackson Police Department is still short of its goal of a force of 500 officers.Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula is looking to hire 1,200 people in the next couple of months and 4,000 next year. Most of those are craftsman positions, like welders or pipe fitters.\"Why are there so many people unemployed, yet there are so many job openings?\" Pace asked Henry.\"Well, that's a very good question. It's a question that's gotten a lot of attention, not only here in Mississippi, but in Washington and across the country,\" Henry said. \"There is some thought that there is a mismatch of skills that people have compared to the skills that are needed for the available open job.\"It's a training gap that the Mississippi Job Corps works every day to bridge with students like Simmons. Students at the center are between the ages of 16-24 and are enrolled in job training, GED, or high school diploma courses. Every student is working toward a job and they know the competition to get one is fierce.\"Our young people, right here, are going to be competing to get jobs with people my age,\" said Ronda Eady, of the Mississippi Job Corps Center.More than 43,000 Mississippians are receiving unemployment benefits. Bridging that gap could save taxpayers millions as more people start replacing the benefits with paychecks, officials said.Those who are unemployed and under 25 years old may be eligible for training through the Mississippi Job Corps. For more information, call 601-892-7028. There is also help available through MDES. Click here for more information."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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