Unemployment jumped nearly a fullpoint, climbing to nine percent in May. Economic Development spokesman JohnFougere says that rate usually drops in April, when seasonal work puts peopleto work. April’s rate was 8.1 percent.
Fougere says the most job losseswere in manufacturing and construction, whereas fields like healthcare, socialassistance and government jobs saw gains. (Most other reported industry groupsshowed little change over the month, with about equal gains as losses.)
Approximately 272,000Missourians were estimated to have been jobless during the month of May.
Employment decreased by3,700 jobs in May, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, which was the smallestmonthly decrease since employment began to drop sharply last November, according to the department.
The report continues to say that over the past year, employment hasdecreased by 74,300 jobs, or 2.7 percent. The main exceptions to the downwardtrend over the year have been private educational services (2,500), health careand social assistance (6,000), federal government (2,700) and local government(3,300).
April’s 0.6 point decrease inunemployment now appears anomalous, with the May increase part of an upwardtrend dating back to mid-2008, Fougere says. The state’s May rate of 9.0 compared to aU.S. rate of 9.4 percent for the month. On a not seasonally-adjusted basis, thestate’s unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in May, up from 7.7 in Aprilbut down from the 9.1 percent level reached in February and March.
DED reports that nonfarm payroll employment in May wasdown in St. Louis, up in Kansas City, and little changed in the state’sother metropolitan areas. Seasonally-adjusted employment decreased by 4,100 inSt. Louis, with an automobile industry layoff, a cutback of federal employeesfollowing the end of some pre-2010 Census activities, and smaller-than-usualseasonal increases in a number of industries. In Kansas City, small gains werespread across a number of industries, with no large over-the-month decreases.