Missouri unemployment steady in April, lower in Cape and Perry counties

Rob Gilligan, president/CEO of Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, said he was glad to hear news Wednesday, May 17, that the state's jobless rate in April remained "stable" at 2.5%, the same jobless rate as March.

The native Kansan said it is important to look behind that one highly visible data point.

"It's one thing to look at the unemployment numbers, but the labor force participation rate (LFPR) is a pretty important statistic, too," Gilligan said.

LFPR stood at 63.2% in April, six-tenths of a percentage point higher than the national rate.

"We know population in the Southeast Missouri region as a whole has been relatively stagnant, so, in order to fill (jobs) in the workforce, maintaining and increasing LFPR is a critical short-term answer," he said.

Southeast Missourian file

Southeast Missourian file

Local outlook

"Our employers are still telling us the market is tight. They are seeing more job applications, but the numbers are nowhere near the volume and the opportunities seen previously," Gilligan said. "One concern is adding more people to the workforce, because, at this point in time, we're still cannibalizing employees from each other. If filling one job just creates another opening somewhere else, we're just moving the checkers around on the board."

Drilling down

Missouri's 2.5% April jobless figure is nine-tenths of a percentage point lower than the U.S. rate of 3.4%.

Figures derived from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations show the following unemployment rates for selected counties in April:

• Cape Girardeau: 2.4%.
• Perry: 2.3%.
• Scott: 2.6%.

One year ago, Missouri's jobless rate was 2.3%.

Missouri's unemployment rate has been at or below the national rate for eight years.

The state minimum wage of $12 per hour has been rising on a graduated basis from $8.60 in 2019. A series of minimum adjustments was mandated by November 2018's voter approval of Proposition B. The initiative, while passing statewide, was disapproved in Cape Girardeau County by a margin of 51.5% to 48.55%.