EMPLOYMENT UP IN PERRY, CAPE COUNTIES

Sabreliner Corporation recently sent out its new employment figures, which indicate that 64 percent of the firm's workers are involved in the Perryville operation, which is located at Perry County Municipal Airport.

"Sabreliner has 488 persons at its Perryville Maintenance and Modification Center," said Barry Dunnegan of Tretter-Gorman Inc., a marketing communications firm which works with Sabreliner, headquartered in St. Louis.

Other Sabreliner employment includes 170 workers at the Chesterfield corporate headquarters and Spirit of St. Louis Airport maintenance facilities; 86 at the Seeger Avenue warehouse and 13 at the Lambert Airport Fixed Base Operation, for a total of 757 employees.

Sabreliner, a diversified aerospace service, modification and manufactauring company, has increased its employment over the past three years by a total of 20 percent, and 42 percent at the Perryville operation, which has been a big help in the Perry County employment figures.

Almost 95 percent of the Perry County work force have jobs at this time.

In the April employment figures, which were released this week, Perry County reported 5.1 unemployment, down six-tenths of a percent from the March figures.

Total employment hit an all-time high in Missouri during April, increasing to 2,551,625, as the statewide unemployment rate fell seven-tenths of a percentage point, to an even 6 percent.

Although the state's April unemployment was off the 14.7 pace of April 1990, the work force was up to 2,715,564, a new high for the state.

April's employment total represents a monthly gain of more than 40,000, and was up more than 30,000 from the 2,521,387 employment level of April 1990.

With the increase in many job fields, most areas throughout the state had decreases in unemployment.

The lowest unemployment figure in the state was the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which showed only a 2.4 employment rate.

Cape Girardeau County ranks among the top 10 areas in unemployment, with more than 95 percent of its work force working.

Cape County's 4.1 unemployment rate is a half-percent down from the 4.6 figures of March, and more than a full percent down from the 5.3 percent of February.

The 4.1 rate is not the lowest ever for the county. A year ago in April the employment rate was under the 4 percent mark at 3.9.

"Our employment average for 1991 is running about 95.4 percent," said Jackie Cecil, manager of the Missouri Job Service Office here. "That's not bad. We're pleased with those figures."

That means that more than 33,000 people have jobs in the county, which has a work force of about 34,800 people.

"We hope to see a slight improvement in employment figures within the next month or so," said Cecil. "The rates usually follow a pattern during the summer."

The lowest Cape County unemployment rates a year ago were in May and June, when they were 3.5 and 3.9 percent, respectively.

"We usually do have one of the lower unemployment rates in the state," Cecil said of Cape County's rates. "We've been consistent in our employment figures for a number of years."

The Cape Girardeau Job Service Office serves Cape, Perry and Bollinger counties.

"The one concern that we have at this point is that our placements are down," said Cecil. "It seem like we're just not getting any new openings."

Unemployment rates

Following are unemployment rates for counties in Southeast Missouri, with April figures first, followed by March and April of 1990.

Southeast Missouri

Bollinger: 10.2, 12.0, 8.7.

Butler: 7.8, 8.4, 7.6.

Cape Girardeau: 4.1, 4.5, 3.9.

Madison: 10.0, 10.2, 6.7.

Mississippi: 8.1, 9.8, 7.7.

New Madrid: 8.1, 10.8, 7.1.

Pemiscot: 8.5, 10.1, 7.2.

Perry: 5.1 5.7, 4.7.

Scott: 7.3, 8.1, 6.2.

Stoddard: 8.3, 9.7, 6.4.

Missouri: 6.0, 6.7, 4.7.