COUNTIES' UNEMPLOYMENT RATES CONTINUE

Good help is getting even harder to find.

The high level of employment demand, which has prevailed for more than two years in the immediate Southeast Missouri area, is expected to continue.

Although more than 500,000 pink, slips have been passed out by U.S. Companies during the past year, and at least another 500 jobs will be lost in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties over the next six months, new hires have surpassed those number.

"Help Wanted" and "We're Hiring Now" and other signs indicating a shortage of employees are common throughout the Cape Girardeau.

Only recently, Thorngate Ltd. put the word out that its company was looking for a few good people at the Cape Girardeau manufacturing location.

Thorngate will join a number of other manufacturing and industrial companies Thursday for a job fair being sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Area Recruitment Association for employees of Florsheim and Columbia Sportswear.

Columbia Sportswear of Chaffee, and Florsheim Shoes of Cape Girardeau, are both closing local plants. Florsheim will end operations by the year's end, and Columbia will shut down by spring.

"We're sponsoring the job fair of employees of both of these companies," said Mitch Robinson, executive director of the recruitment association. "We'll be busing workers from the two plants to talk with businesses needing workers."

Retirement will probably absorb some of the more than 450 workers involved at the two plants -- 185 at Columbia and about 275 at Florsheim.

"But, there will be plenty of people looking for jobs," said Robinson.

A recent report by Manpower Inc., a temporary employment company, indicated that a third of the companies included in its quarter "Employment Outlook Survey" will be boosting personnel levels this fall.

Fifty-seven percent of companies expected to remain about the same, and 10 percent indicated they would trim employment roll.

Increases are likely in durable and non-durable goods manufacturing, education and services said area Manpower spokeswoman Peggy Gates. Some reductions are expected in construction. "There were some mixed readings from wholesale/retail trade, she said.

Manpower conducts employment outlook surveys, regionally and nationally on a quarterly basis.

The workforce in the nine immediate Southeast Missouri counties totals over 130,000. As many of 120,000 people are working in the same area, which includes -- Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Perry, Mississippi, Pemiscot, Scott, Stoddard, and Ste. Genevieve.

New jobs are continually being created in the area.

A number of new jobs will be created from expansion at Procter & Gamble, Lee-Rowan Biokyowa.

Over the past year, expansions have been reported at Gates Rubber Co. in Charleston; Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream Co. at Sikeston; Noranda Aluminum plant near New Madrid; and others.

The current workforce in Cape Girardeau County stands at 36,635, with 35,373 employed, for a 2.8 percent unemployment rate. With the holiday season approaching the number of employed workers could swell to more than 35,500.

Perry County, which has also added jobs during the past few years with new and expanded industry, reported a 2.1. unemployment rate recently, with 12,008 employed from a work force of 12,332.

Bollinger County is under the 5 percent mark, at 4.2, with 4,964 workers employed, and only 262 without jobs. Scott County is at 4.5 percent unemployment, with 19,100 jobs for 20,086 workers.

Total employment in Missouri is over 2.8 million, with unemployment at about 3.5 percent.

Unemployment in deep Southern Illinois has followed the state trend by declining in most counties covered in the Illinois Department of Employment Security's southern sector.

Lack of significant layoffs in the manufacturing sector and favorable working conditions for most outside workers have resulted in only moderate construction layoffs, said Charles M. Vessell, labor market economist for the department in Marion.

Jackson and Massac counties continues to record the lowest unemployment rates in the southern portion at 4.4 and 5.4 percent respectively.

Alexander and Union counties each posted single-digit unemployment rates. Union County, with a workforce of 7,705, posed a 6.4 percent unemployment rate, and Alexander, with a workforce of 4,115, posted a 9 percent unemployment rate.

Illinois unemployment has ranged between 4 and 5 percent unemployment the past few months, with latest available figures showing a 4.2 percent unemployment.