Employment Increases Again In Missouri Keeping Us Below National Unemployment Rate

Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased by 11,600 jobs from December-2022 to January-2023 while the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained the same at 2.7 percent.

That’s according to the Missouri Monthly Jobs Report released on Wednesday by the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development and the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

The report further indicates that private industry employment increased by more than 12-thousand jobs while government employment dipped a bit by 600 jobs.

And while the national unemployment rate decreased from 3.5 percent in December to 3.4 percent in January, the statewide rate has been at, or below, the national rate for more than five years.

***Full report***

Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased by 11,600 jobs from December 2022 to January 2023, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.7 percent in January 2023. Private industry employment increased by 12,200 jobs, and government employment decreased by 600 jobs. Over the year, there was an increase of 83,100 jobs from January 2022 to January 2023, and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points, from 2.9 percent in January 2022 to 2.7 percent in January 2023.

ANNUAL REVISIONS FOR 2022 DATA 

With the release of January 2023 data, previously released employment and unemployment estimates for Missouri statewide and sub-state areas from both Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) and Current Employment Statistics (CES) programs have been revised through the annual revision and benchmarking process. Revised estimates reflect additional data and estimation methods developed over the year, including new population controls from the Census Bureau, updated input data, and reestimation.

The revision process resulted in Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in 2022 reaching even lower levels than previously estimated. During 2022, Missouri’s unemployment rate decreased from a revised 2.9 percent in January 2022 to 2.1 percent in May and June, increasing gradually to 2.7 percent by December. Rates during the year were lower than any year previously in the data series, which began in 1976.

Revised data for 2022 show that seasonally adjusted total non-farm payroll employment increased at a faster rate than originally estimated in 2022 for every month except January and February. On net from January 2022 to December 2022, revised estimates show Missouri gained 33,500 more jobs in the year than reported in the original estimates.

UNEMPLOYMENT 

Missouri’s smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.7 percent in January 2023, the same as the revised December 2022 rate. The January 2023 rate was two-tenths of a percentage point lower than the January 2022 rate of 2.9 percent. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 81,885 in January 2023, nearly unchanged from December’s 81,965.

The national unemployment rate decreased from 3.5 in December 2022 to 3.4 in January 2023. Missouri’s unemployment rate has been at or below the national rate for more than five years.

EMPLOYMENT 

Missouri’s non-farm payroll employment was 2,968,600 in January 2023, up by 11,600 from the revised December 2022 figure. The December 2022 total was revised upward from the preliminary estimate with an increase of 23,700 jobs.

Read the full report at https://meric.mo.gov/missouri-monthly-jobs-report.