State unemployment rate falls to 5.2 percent in February

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point in February to 5.2 percent, the state Economic Development Department said Friday.

The state's labor market conditions remained relatively unchanged in February.

Adjusted for traditional seasonal factors, the February rate was 4.7 percent, the same as January, and only a tenth of a percentage point more than the seasonally adjusted rate from a year earlier.

Boone, Cole and Nodaway counties had the lowest unemployment rates in the state at or just below 2.5 percent.

Stone County in Southwest Missouri had the highest February jobless rate at 23.3 percent -- up from 22.7 percent in January. The second-highest February employment rate -- 20.2 percent -- was found in neighboring Taney County, home of Branson.

Non-farm payroll employment dropped slightly in February after having shown a gain in January.

The state has experienced significant job losses throughout the year. Seasonally adjusted employment has dropped by 52,100 jobs, or 1.9 percent, since last February.