Hiring fair slated for Monday in Cape Girardeau

Southeast Missouri State University and the local Missouri Job Center will host what's being called "a drive through hiring" event from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30.

The location is the SEMO parking lot at 920 Broadway, across the street from Burrito-Ville restaurant.

Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce plans to hand out bags with flyers, pamphlets and other information about area employers looking for workers.

In an Oct. 16 report released by U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there is a current labor surplus in the U.S. construction industry, but other hiring sectors continue to go begging for qualified employees.

"Durable goods manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and education and health services (all) have a labor shortage," the report read.

Rob Gilligan

Rob Gilligan

"Even if every unemployed person with experience in the durable goods manufacturing industry were employed, the industry would only fill around 75% of vacant jobs."

Durable goods are commonly identified as products, such as automobiles, home appliances, medical equipment, tools and toys, that have a shelf life of at least three years.

Drilling down

Cape Girardeau Chamber president and CEO Rob Gilligan considers so-called workforce participation data as more important measurements of the economy than the more heralded unemployment rate, since the former measures those actively working or looking for work.

"Cape County is actually a little ahead of the curve overall when you look at participation rate compared to the rates we see in Missouri and for the U.S.," said Gilligan, who has led the chamber since April 2022

"The larger Southeast Missouri region, however, is somewhat behind the curve and that probably is influenced by the following things: rural communities tend to age more; younger folks in those towns are moving to metropolitan, higher-density areas; lack of access to child care is a significant barrier, keeping one parent at home because of a lack of support system for the family; and lack of transportation and health care also drag down the participation rate."

According to Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), the workforce participation rate in the state was 63.7% in September, the most recent month for which data are available, compared to 62.8% in the U.S.

Missouri's 2.9% jobless rate in September is nearly a full point lower than the U.S. unemployment rate of 3.8%.

MERIC reports Missouri unemployment has been at or below the national rate for more than eight years.