STRICTLY BUSINESS: NUMBERS CAN TELL THE ECONOMIC STORY

Numbers can tell the business and/or economic story.

And, if the numbers are any indication, Missouri's business posted a good year overall.

* Missouri workers saw their personal income grow at more than twice the rate of inflation.

* The state saw a net gain of almost 22,000 new jobs.

* An estimated 372 companies either expanded or built new facilities in Missouri.

* State unemployment totals early in the fourth quarter were unbelievable, well under the national average.

In this corner, we'll take a look today at some happenings statewide.

We'll follow Jan. 24 with a look at some of the same statistics in the Southeast Missouri area.

Realizing that numbers are open for interpretation which are good, which are bad, which are in-between Missouri closed out the century with some numbers that by any measure indicate the presence of a strong economic engine.

* "How low can you go?": Missouri's unemployment rate continues to set record lows, with several counties under two percent at some time during the year. The statewide average was 2.6 for November, well under the national average of 4.1 percent for the same month.

* Job creation: Missouri saw a net gain of 21,955 new jobs in the state, with construction, government and service and retail trade industries leading the way.

* New and expanding businesses: An estimated 372 companies expanded or opened new facilities in the state, compared to 348 in 1998. Business categories expanding included financial services, manufacturing, electronics, health products food processing and tourism facilities. Among the major new expansion are plans for a 1,000-room, $244 million convention center hotel in St. Louis and two automobile manufacturing expansions a $400 million-plus expansion of DaimlerChrysler in St. Louis and a new Ford facility at Kansas City.

* Personal income: Missouri's personal income grew by 3.4 percent, from $23,629 to $24,447. National income grew by an estimated 5.4 percent.

* Inflation: Missouri's inflation stood at an estimated 1.3 percent. The U.S. average was 2.6 percent.

* Gross product: Missouri's gross state product (GSP), the sum of all goods and services produced in Missouri, grew about 3.4 percent, from $158.2 billion in 1998 to an estimated $163 billion.

* Exports: Missouri exports are projected at $7.8 billion, in an increase of about six percent over $7.3 billion in 1998.

A report, issued earlier by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, projected continued low unemployment for Missouri, despite some of the year's not-so-good economic news the closing of a number of manufacturers in the state, including some in Southeast Missouri.

The latest closings in the state were announced late last week. The Supervalu Distribution Center at Scott City, which has been in operation 38 years, will close in April or May of this year, with the loss of 150 jobs. Quaker Oats Co. will close its cereal-making plant at St. Joseph with the loss of 600 jobs.

Textile, apparel, footwear and other low-tech industries were involved in the majority of plant cutbacks and closures. We get more into the local closings in next week's column.

Small business are big

While on the subject of business and economics, here's some numbers on small businesses.

Small businesses lead the way when it comes to exporting, says Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator Aid Alvarez.

"Ninety-seven percent of all U.S. exporters are small business, and they account for almost a third of all U.S. export sales."

Of the 209,000 businesses that export, more than 202,000 are small businesses.

During the 1998 fiscal year, the SBA offered opportunities for all Americans to start, build and grow their own business in the 21st century.

The SBA maintained a guaranteed loan portfolio of more than $40 billion in loans to 491,000 small business that would not otherwise have had such access to capital.

The SBA backed more than 47,100 loans, totaling a record $10.8 billion to America's small businesses.

America's 23 million small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private workshop, generate more than half of the nation's gross domestic product and are the principal source of new jobs.

B. Ray Owen is business editor for the Southeast Missourian.