
by MBJ Staff Published: May 15,2012
Tags: appointment, Bennie Thompson, Bloomberg, Bobby Jindal, Brent Christensen, capitalism, Clay County, community development, Dave Dennis, economic development, economy, executive, executive director, Florida, Gainesville (Fla.) Area Chamber of Commerce, Gov. Haley Barbour, Gov. Phil Bryant, governor, Greenville, Institutes for Higher Learning, Mississippi, Mississippi Business Journal, Mississippi Development Authority, Nathan Deal, Pew Center on the States, Phil Bryant, politics Tags: Amazon.com, Sean Tindell, state agency, state government
JACKSON — Brent Christensen has been named the new head of the Mississippi Development Authority. Gov. Phil Bryant made the announcement during a press conference at the Marriot Hotel in downtown Jackson. Christensen, who has been the CEO of the Gainesville (Fla.) Area Chamber of Commerce the last 10 years, replaces interim director Jim Barksdale, the [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: May 4,2012
Tags: casinos, construction, Conventions, economy, entertainment, gamblers, gambling, gaming, hospitality, hotels, lodging, meetings, recession, restaurants, tourism, tourists, visitors
BILOXI — Casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp. says it won’t continue construction of the unfinished casino on the beach in Biloxi, Miss. The company took a $167.5 million non-cash impairment charge on the project, writing off the money spent on the casino before stopping work in 2008. Caesars spokesman Gary Thompson tells the Sun Herald [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: April 30,2012
Tags: consumer confidence, economy, employment, forecast, jobs, outlook, prediction, recession, unemployment, work, workers
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — The April 2012 issue of the Mississippi Economic Outlook, a quarterly publication replacing the bi-annual Mississippi Economic Review and Outlook, is now available online at www.mississippi.edu/URC. Published by the Center for Policy Research and Planning of the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), the Outlook presents the state economic forecast for 2012 to [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: April 30,2012
Tags: economy, home prices, homeowners, homes, houses, real estate, recession, residences, residential real estate, residents
OXFORD — FNC’s latest Residential Price Index (RPI) indicates that U.S. residential property values continued to show signs of persistent weakening, ending in February with a seventh consecutive month-to-month decline. Despite sharply rising activities in existing home sales and new housing starts from a year ago, prices on non-distressed home sales (excluding foreclosure auction sales, [...] [...]

JACKSON — March winnings at Mississippi’s casinos rose 3.9 percent for a year ago, the third time in the last four months that revenues have improved at the state’s 29 gambling halls. An improving economy appears to be bringing gamblers back, while coast casinos may have been boosted by the Final Four being held in [...] [...]
OXFORD — The latest FNC Residential Price Index (RPI) indicates that U.S. home prices declined steadily in the last half of 2011. Since July 2011, prices on non-distressed properties (excluding foreclosure sales, REO sales, and short sales) have fallen 4.5 percent — averaging nearly 1.0 percent per month. The persistent downtrends in home prices are [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: March 29,2012
Tags: economy, employment, firing, hiring, jobs, layoffs, recession, unemployment, unemployment benefits, unemployment rate, work, workers, workforce
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi’s unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent in February, the lowest level since July 2009. Jobless figures for January had first appeared to dip to 9.9 percent in preliminary numbers, but later were revised up to 10 percent. The state recorded a 10.2 percent unemployment rate in February 2011. The number of [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: March 28,2012
Tags: appropriations, budget, economy, executive, governor, recession, revenues, spending, state government, tax collections, taxes
JACKSON — Gov. Phil Bryant is revising his state budget for the year that begins July 1. In his new plan, released yesterday, the Republican no longer asks local school districts to dig into their own financial reserves to offset state funding cuts. Instead, he proposes giving elementary and secondary schools, community colleges and universities [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: March 7,2012
Tags: agriculture, appeal, Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners, Clean Water Act, courts, Cynthia Sarthou, economy, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, federal government, flood, flood control, flooding, Gov. Haley Barbour, habitat, judge, judicial, judiciary, local government, Louie Miller, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi River, North Mississippi, Peter Nimrod, politics Tags: American Rivers, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Roger Wicker, Sen. Thad Cochran, South Delta, state government, Stupidity, the Gulf Restoration Network, the National Wildlife Federation, The Sierra Club, U.S. Congress, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, VICKSBURG, Washington, wildlife, Yazoo Backwater Project
NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court panel sided yesterday with the Environmental Protection Agency over its 2008 veto of a $220 million flood control project near the Yazoo River in the south Mississippi Delta. >> RELATED: EPA admits it has no experts on Yazoo Pump Project. The Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners sued the [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: February 17,2012
Tags: cargo, distribution, economy, exporters, exports, goods, importers, imports, ports, shipping, ships, trade
GULFPORT — The Port of Gulfport reports stronger cargo volume in 2011, handling in excess of 216,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units), which represents an increase of 3.6 percent compared to 2010. Overall, more than 2.2 million tons of cargo moved through Gulfport, representing a year-over-year increase of 3.2 percent. “We experienced solid growth in [...] [...]