Scores from MS seeking Census jobs

The Clarion Ledger discusses job opportunities available through the Census. Learn more...

Some 10,000 Mississippians competing for 1,300 temporary jobs have swamped the U.S. Census Bureau with applications in one month.

The job-seekers were responding to a hiring push by the bureau. Preparations for the 2010 census are under way.

"Of the 10,000 applicants we've had so far, roughly 7,000 are qualified," said Jeff Behler, deputy regional director for the Census Bureau office in Dallas.

"I'd say the response is partly due to the economy, partly due to the extra effort we put into recruiting.

"It's been an amazing turnout."

Maybe not that amazing considering this: More than 104,000 Mississippi workers were unemployed in December - a seasonally adjusted rate of 8 percent, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The rate for December 2007 was 6.3 percent.

In Jackson, the December rate climbed to 6 percent, from 5.1 percent a year earlier.

Workers who get on with the Census Bureau during its first round of operations will make $8 to $13.50 per hour in jobs that range from part- to full-time.

More than 5,700 applications have flooded the bureau's Meridian office, which opened Jan. 30. About 4,800 have applied at the Jackson office, which opened two days before that.