Missouri’s unemployment rate during the month of November has decreased to its lowest level in 49 months and has remained beneath the national unemployment average for 39 consecutive months.

Spokesman for the Department of Economic Development John Fougere says the state is seeing a trend that continues to be positive and it’s significant that Missouri’s unemployment rate has been lower than the national unemployment rate for 39 consecutive months.

 “That’s the trend we’ve seen going back to the recession is that Missouri has been better off than the nation as a whole both during the recession and as we’ve kind of emerged from that, so that’s positive,” he says. “Especially when you consider that if you go back for a couple of years, part of the recession in the mid 2000’s, there was a four year stretch from 2005 to 2009.”

He says Missouri’s unemployment rate fell to 6 point 7 percent, down two-tenths of a point from October 2012. “So that’s the lowest that Missouri’s unemployment rate has been since back in October of 2008.

Fougere says an emphasis is placed on the trend of the overall economy and not focus on any one month when it comes to job gain and job loss. Since December 2011, there have been 31,000 new jobs created in the state.

 

AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (:55)