By the numbers: Employment growth and loss in Cape Girardeau County

In August 2010, the U.S. Commerce Department released statistics showing the Cape Girardeau area was one of five metropolitan statistical areas nationwide that had more earnings growth in the private sector than in government jobs in 2009.

1,447...more people in Cape Girardeau County were employed in health care services, including hospitals and nursing homes, in 2009 than in 2004, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. Almost half of the county's 34,093 private-sector workers -- 16,164 in all -- were employed in health care-related fields in 2009.

3,657...the number of people in Cape County in 2009 (10.7 percent of its workers) employed in manufacturing, according to the research center. That's 1,558 fewer than in 2004.

345...the number of construction workers the county lost in the past five years, falling from 2,153 people in 2004 to 1,808 in 2009.

5,511...the number of people in Cape County who were employed in retail in 2009. That's down from 5,529 in 2004.

573...the number of jobs Southeast Hospital has added in the past five years. SoutheastHEALTH currently employs around 2,259 people.

107...the number of new positions for medical professional Saint Francis Medical Center added from August 2009 to August 2010. Saint Francis employs 2,460 people.

247...the increase in local government workers from 2004 to 2009, from 2,410 to 2,560.

SOURCE: Missouri Economic Research and Information Center