Missouri’s unemployment rate holds steady

The Show-Me State’s unemployment rate was flat in April, according to the latest report from the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Missouri’s jobless rate last month was 3.3%, the same as March, according to a news release. DED’s data is seasonally adjusted.

During April, Missouri employers added 11,800 jobs, with increases in construction, at 3,400 jobs, leisure and hospitality, 1,800, and retail trade, 1,400, among the leaders. Offsetting industries included nondurable goods, which dropped 500 jobs during April compared with March.

April’s unemployment rate also was flat from the same month in 2018, according to the release.

Of some 3 million people working in Missouri’s civilian labor force, 101,701 were unemployed in April, according to the DED.

The most recent unemployment rate for the Springfield metropolitan statistical area was 3.3% in March, according to data that’s not seasonally adjusted from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.