Missouri has led the nation in the percentage of jobs lost in one year. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says 55,000 jobs were lost in the last state fiscal year – more than two-percent of the jobs that existed when the year began. That’s the nation’s highest percentage of jobslost. More than 20,000 of those 55,000 lost jobs are inmanufacturing. Ann Walker, Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Development says we are now seeing an echo effect from the loss of those manufacturing jobs. She says those echoes could indicate Missouri will be behind the national average in recovery from the recession. Walker says Missouri is focusing on small business and entrepreneurial development, and on advanced manufacturing, information technology, and in plant and life science – where she says there’s been strong growth.
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