For the federal work requirement to be waived, a jurisdiction must have an unemployment rate above 10 percent, a rate 20 percent higher than the national average, or the local labor market must qualify as weak by other measures. But governors can reinstate the mandate even if the state economy meets that criteria, as Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) did this year. He chose not to extend the work-mandate waiver, though the state's unemployment rate is 6.5 percent, among the worst in the country. "We want people to go to work in Mississippi," Bryant said in a statement. "We want these individuals to get a good job and live the American dream, not just be dependent on the federal government."