Missouri's unemployment rate declines in October

Missouri's unemployment rate continued to fall in October, dropping three-tenths of a point to 5.2 percent, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The seasonally adjusted rate has been edging down since it peaked in June at 5.7 percent.

"Once again the unemployment rate continues to be an encouraging economic indicator for our state," said Joe Driskill, DED director, in a news release. "Certainly we are hopeful that our unemployment rate, though better than 26 other states, will continue to decline as Missouri's strong business climate encourages further growth of businesses and jobs."

According to the release, over the past year, the number of people who are unemployed has decreased by 7,200 to 156,800, while the rate has fallen by three-tenths of a point.

Nationally, the United States seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage to 6 percent in October. Total employment edged up by 441,000 across the nation in October.

Despite improving unemployment rates, payroll employment in Missouri was little changed in October. With 2,659,300 jobs, the seasonally adjusted figure was 3,300 jobs lower than in September. The decrease came from two industry super sectors: manufacturing and leisure/hospitality, the release said. Factory employment was down by 3,200 jobs, after slowly edging up during much of this year. Leisure and hospitality was down by 7,300 jobs. These decreases were mostly offset by gains in most other industry groups including construction (1,000 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (1,700); other services (1,100); and government (2,300).

In the case of manufacturing, employment didn't see the seasonal improvement that was expected. The largest reported decreases were 300 jobs in electronic manufacturing and motor vehicle manufacturing, while the largest increase was 400 jobs in food manufacturing.

Yearly stats

Over the past year, employment has decreased by 26,700 jobs, not seasonally adjusted. Government employment was down by 5,900. In the private sector, trade, transportation and utilities industries experienced an aggregate decrease of 11,400 jobs. The largest drops were in retail trade (9,100 job losses) and air transportation (5,500 job losses).Wholesale of nondurable goods continued to be a plus, adding 3,000 jobs over the year. The professional and business group lost 6,100 jobs on balance since October 2002, with employment services, including temporary help, and administrative and support services accounting for most of the decrease.

Strengths in the state's labor market are construction employment, which gained 5,600 jobs over the past year, and health care and social assistance, which added 4,500 jobs.