Missouri's unemployment rate declines in November

The Show-Me State's unemployment rate dipped in November, according to the latest data from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

The seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate was 4.4% last month, compared with 4.6% in October, according to a news release.

During November, Missouri's seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 17,400 jobs. The largest increases were in transportation and utilities, at 8,000 jobs; educational and health services, at 5,500; and manufacturing, at 5,200. Partially offsetting those gains were government, which lost 3,200 jobs, and leisure and hospitality, which dropped by 600.

Missouri's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in November was a full percentage point higher than the same month of 2019, according to the release. Officials cited the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and they cautioned that "a third wave of COVID-19 infections pose a threat of renewed economic challenges in the coming months."

Missouri's unemployment rate peaked at 10.2% in April amid the coronavirus pandemic.