Missouri unemployment rate hits 8% in January

Springfield lost 600 nonfarm payroll jobs in January, the same month Missouri's unemployment rate jumped to 8 percent - the highest in a quarter-century.

The state unemployment rate increased 0.9 percent over the revised December figure and 2.5 percent from January 2008, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Springfield lost a total of 3,700 jobs last year, according to DED.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of employed people in Missouri dropped below 2.76 million after the state shed 11,500 jobs in January. The largest hits occurred in construction, which lost 5,800 jobs, and manufacturing, which saw 4,100 jobs disappear.

There were, however, employment gains in the retail trade sector, which added 2,400 jobs, and health care and social assistance, which saw employment grow by 2,000 jobs, according to DED. Company management and accommodations/food services combined to add another 2,500 jobs.

Nonfarm payroll employment also decreased on a seasonally adjusted basis in most of Missouri's metropolitan areas in January, with Kansas City and St. Louis losing a combined 11,800 jobs, according to DED.[[In-content Ad]]