Mo. unemployment rate edges up

Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate moved up a tenth of a point to land at 5.8 percent in May, according to the state Department of Economic Development.

Still, employers added 6,600 jobs last month, led by the leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation and utilities, professional and business services, and construction industries, according to a news release.

Job increases by lead industries were:

• leisure and hospitality, 3,200;
• trade, transportation and utilities, 2,300;
• professional and business services, 2,100; and
• construction, 1,400.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national not-seasonally adjusted jobless rate for May was 5.5 percent. The latest BLS data for the Springfield metropolitan statistical area put the region’s unemployment rate at 4.8 percent in April.

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