Springfield labor market holds steady

Employment in the Springfield area has remained steady through the nation's recession, now in its third year.

The unemployment rate in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, at 3.4 percent in May, is far below the national rate, which has been above 6 percent the past three months and now sits at 6.4 percent a rate not seen since April 1994.

"We're well below the national average, which is great," said Rogetta Kyle, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce's manager of work force and business development. "We've maintained that (rate) for our area, and I think that's largely due to our very diverse economy."

State and local work force analysts said health care and service industries are stabilizing the local labor market.

Both Springfield health systems, traditionally the area's largest employers, are hiring due to campus expansions. The addition of St. John's Surgery Center, opening this week, and CoxHealth's Meyer Center for Wellness and Rehabilitation, opening in August, will create about 30 new full-time positions, the bulk of them at the Meyer Center.

While employment has generally held steady this year, sizable growth is hard to come by.

"Traditionally, the Springfield MSA is a relatively rapidly growing area, with a diverse economy. Right now, it seems to be holding its own but not showing much employment growth," said Bill Niblack, research analyst with the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center, a division of Missouri's Department of Economic Development. "The industries that are doing relatively well are health services and leisure and hospitality. Since these are mainstays of the local economy, this is a good thing. Financial activities have shown some growth over the past year as well."

The Springfield MSA includes Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties.

Economic conditions

While most companies have maintained employment levels, there have been a few spots of job creation: Associated Wholesale Grocers is hiring 10 to 20 people per week; Loren Cook Company is adding 25 new positions; and Paul Mueller Company has added 75 jobs in the past year.

Local work force analysts point to a new Partnership Industrial Center East tenant as a-nother bright spot.

Stainless Technology, a new division of Bethlehem, Pa.-based Associated Bio-Engineers and Consult-ants, will add about 75 new jobs to the work force. Chamber officials say Stainless Technology's capital investment may exceed $2 million here.

"It signifies that (Stainless Technology is) looking at us as having a quality, high-skilled work force," Kyle said.

The same day the U.S. Labor Department announced June's three-tenths of a percent increase in unemployment the largest month-to-month rise since Sept. 11, 2001 Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Joe Driskill reported good news about Missouri's economic condition. The state's news is part of a series of economic conditions reports prepared by Driskill's department.

"Our review of data suggests that new businesses are starting and jobs are being created," Driskill said in the report. "Missourians are finding work at rates better than the nation as a whole, and economic growth is occurring in our state," based on a healthy unemployment rate and growing annual wages, which rose 1.9 percent to $33,260.

But the report's claim that manufacturing is on the upswing statewide doesn't hold true in southwest Missouri, according to Rita Needham, executive director of Southwest Area Manufacturers Association, an organization that represents manufacturers.

"I don't see that," she said. "I don't see job creation happening, and there hasn't been in the past two years."

Erratic production orders especially for companies that rely on national clients have limited local industry growth, Needham said. "We keep waiting for renewal of orders consistent over a several month period."

Loren Cook's business depends on the nation's new commercial construction, which drives sales of the company's commercial fans. President and CEO Jerry Cook said commercial construction is down nationwide this year by 10 percent and by 47 percent over the last three years, leading to sporadic production levels.

"We've been fortunate we haven't had any layoffs," Cook said.

The small hiring surge is due to a recent increase in orders, he said. "But even when we hire the few that we're after, we'll be down under last year's numbers."

Paul Mueller Company has reached its employment capacity after hiring 75 new employees last year, according to Michael Young, director of human resources. That job creation, primarily in engineering and production, was due to increased workloads in the bio-pharmaceutical industries.

Labor market

Of the 178,421 people in the Springfield MSA's labor force, 6,062 are unemployed, according to MERIC statistics. Company representatives say the labor market is healthy right now and applicants are plenty.

Cook said nearly 700 applicants are knocking at his door for the 25 new positions.

"A lot of them were very well qualified," he said. "It's unfortunate for those people, but it's good for hiring."

Good business volumes are leading to employee growth at Associated Wholesale Grocers, according to vice president Tim Bellanti. "We hire every single week," he said, mostly warehouse order selectors.

The company is finding qualified applicants and hires six out of every 10 applicants, Bellanti said.

Despite expansion in Springfield, health care still faces labor shortages, primarily for registered nurses, radiology technologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists.

Jim Brookhart, vice president of human resources for St. John's, said that while the Springfield market is in better shape than most systems around the country, labor issues are still heavily weighed.

"We're in a much better position here than other markets, but still it's a challenge for us to attract and retain qualified staff," said Brookhart, who has been with St. John's for about 18 months.

St. John's has an overall employee retention rate of 85 percent versus 83 percent nationally, he said. "The growth in health care jobs is projected to be almost 29 percent between now and 2010 to care for all those aging folks which is twice the growth rate of the rest of the work force."

Two future projects at St. John's a Nixa super clinic and a patient tower, expected to go online in 2005 and 2006, respectively will place more demand on local health care positions. "There probably will be a net increase of some positions, but it's still too early to tell," Brookhart said.

CoxHealth has filled half of the 23 positions for the Meyer Center, said Laurie Cunningham, director of public relations. Openings for membership services, fitness instructors, facility attendants, clerical, food and nutrition services, and environmental services are available.