Missouri unemployment rate unaffected by job growth

Missouri employers added a net 14,100 jobs in July, but it wasn’t enough to move the state’s unemployment rate compared with the prior month.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development yesterday reported a jobless rate for July of 3.8 percent, the same figure as June. However, according to the DED, last month’s unemployment rate was a full percentage point below the July 2016 figure and three percentage points lower than in July 2012.

The Show-Me State’s July job growth was led by:
    •    government, at 11,100 positions;
    •    professional and business services, 4,700;
    •    educational and health services, 3,900;
    •    mining, logging and construction, 2,800;
    •    manufacturing, 1,700; and
    •    information, 100.

Partially offsetting the increase was trade, transportation and utilities, with a 4,000-job decrease; leisure and hospitality, which also dropped by 4,000 jobs; and financial activities, which was down by 1,700. The DED’s data is seasonally adjusted.