Missouri’s unemployment rate ticks up

Missouri’s unemployment rate rose another tenth of a point to start off the calendar year.

The jobless rate for January was 3.2 percent, up from 3.1 percent in December 2018, according to a news release from the state Department of Economic Development.

Employers in January added 9,300 net jobs. The increase was led by health care and social assistance, up 4,100 jobs, leisure and hospitality, up 2,300, and professional, scientific and technical services, up 1,000. The new jobs easily offset a 1,000-employee decrease in the information sector.

The U.S. unemployment rate in January was 4 percent, meaning Missouri’s jobless rate has been below the national level for 46 consecutive months, according to the release.

Missouri’s January unemployment rate was three-tenths of a point lower than the same month of 2018.

The most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put the Springfield metropolitan statistical area’s unemployment rate at 2.6 percent in December 2018.