Unemployment benefits in Hattiesburg
Unemployment insurance in Hattiesburg is a Mississippi program, filed with the state agency rather than with Forrest County. The weekly amount and the number of weeks come from state law, and both are below.
Where a Hattiesburg case goes
Claims from Hattiesburg go to the Mississippi unemployment agency, not to a Forrest County office. Benefits are paid by the state under the formula below. Hattiesburg has about 48,522 residents (Census Bureau, 2024 estimate).
Open the full Mississippi unemployment calculator → — same formula, with every input, the statute (Miss. Code § 71-5-503; MDES) and the date it was last checked.
Formula
Highest quarter ÷ 26
Maximum
$235 · up to 26 weeks
Does Hattiesburg have its own rule?
No. Miss. Code § 71-5-503; MDES applies across Mississippi, so a claim from Hattiesburg is decided by the same numbers as one filed anywhere else in the state. What changes locally is which workforce office you deal with in person and how busy it is — not the weekly amount or the number of weeks.
What the statute says
Miss. Code § 71-5-503; MDES — Mississippi Department of Employment Security. Mississippi's $235 maximum is the lowest in the nation and has not risen since 2004; anyone earning more than about $6,110 in their best quarter hits the same cap.
Last checked 2026-09-02. Read the source →
Also for Hattiesburg
Other Mississippi cities
Jackson · Gulfport · Southaven · Biloxi · Olive Branch · Tupelo · Meridian · Pearl · Madison · Greenville · Oxford · Clinton
Everything StateTally tracks for Mississippi → · Unemployment in every city →