State officials look at a number of factors indicating Missouri’s economy is gaining momentum.
Linda Luebbering keeps a sharp eye on state economic trends from her office within the Office of Administration.
More than 40-thousand more people are working in Missouri this year than were working last year. Private sector jobs are up even more, putting Missouri in the top ten of all the states for private sector job growth. She says Missouri is doing better than all of our surrounding states. “Unemployment rate is at the lowest point it’s been inf our years…and personal income is up four percent “and accelerating.” She says building permits are up 12%; and single-family building permits are up 14%.
But Missourians are paying a price for that success. Luebbering and her staff figure the state will take in almost 9.2-billion dollars in general taxes in the next fiscal year, after refunds, up about one-half billion dollars from this fiscal year’s collections.
Studies indicate consumers will still have plenty of money in their pockets, though, enough that consumer spending is expected to pick up by almost five percent in the year starting July first, perhaps encouraged by prices that are expected to rise by less than two percent.