Jobless rate down slightly as employers look for workers

The unemployment rate in Cape Girardeau County dropped slightly in August, according to the Missouri Department of Labor. However, it remained more than twice as high as it was for several months last fall.

Meanwhile, area business leaders say the jobless rate would be lower if more unemployed workers would take advantage of ample job openings.

“There’s a ton of stuff available out there,” said John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

According to statistics released Tuesday by the state labor department, the percentage of unemployed workers in Cape Girardeau County dropped from 6.2% in July to 6.0% in August. In addition, the number of first-time unemployment claims also declined from 1,732 in July to 477 last month, the lowest number of initial filings since February, just before the COVID-19 pandemic spread into Missouri.

The 477 first-time filings in August among Cape Girardeau County residents was the lowest number of monthly jobless claims since February, but was the highest of any month before the pandemic dating back to December 2013 when Cape Girardeau County also had 477 initial unemployment claims.

Cape Girardeau County’s jobless rate was 2.2% last September and gradually rose to 4.3% in March before ballooning to 9.5% in April, the first full month of the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown. In that month, 5,011 county residents filed for unemployment benefits, more than the combined total number of filings in all of 2018 and 2019.

“Last year, we were in the tightest labor market in the last 50 years,” Mehner said, “and while we are not seeing low unemployment numbers like we did before, we are seeing an increase in hiring attempts by local businesses.”

But despite those “hiring attempts,” employers are having a difficult time finding potential employees.

“It struck me in the last two weeks how many times people have reached out to me and said, ‘We can’t find people anymore,’” Mehner said. The reason, he said, may be a combination of factors. “Some say it’s a fear of the virus. Others say large unemployment benefits helped people for a longer time than expected.”

Brian Gerau, executive director of the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, said he’s hearing the same message from Jackson chamber members.

“We’ve been contacted by members who are in need of employees, especially in the restaurant industry,” Gerau said. “There are opportunities out there.”

Overall, though, he said the declining unemployment figures are encouraging.

“It’s good to see that number (the unemployment rate) go down,” he said. “Local businesses and industries are hiring, which is a good sign of a market recovery.”

Elsewhere

For counties bordering Cape Girardeau County, the August unemployment rates were:

• Bollinger — 6.3%, down from 6.8% in July, with 88 initial unemployment claims, down from 265 in July.
• Perry — 4.6%, down from 4.8% in July, with 102 initial unemployment claims, down from 509 in July.
• Scott — 6.4%, up from 6.1% in July, with 320 initial unemployment claims, down from 918 in July.

Mike Marshall, head of the Sikeston Regional Chamber of Commerce and Area Economic Development Corp., said the slight uptick in Scott County’s August unemployment rate could be a statistical anomaly and is not reflective of overall employment trends in Scott, New Madrid and Mississippi counties.

“Our major employers are busy and doing a lot of business,” he said.

Missouri’s overall unemployment rate last month stood at 7.0%, up slightly from July’s 6.9% rate. Across the state, the county with the highest jobless rate in August was Taney in southwest Missouri at 10.4%, followed by Pemiscot County in Southeast Missouri at 10.1%. The City of St. Louis’ August unemployment rate was 11.3%.

On the other side of the spectrum, Gentry County in northwest Missouri recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rate in August at 4.0%.

The national unemployment rate in August was 8.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 6% lower than the rate in April when 14.7% of the nation’s labor force was unemployed.

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