Study shows job growth in Cape Girardeau-Jackson area

While most metro areas are still losing jobs, the Cape Girardeau area posted job gains according to a study by Moody's Economy.com and msnbc.com.

The Cape Girardeau-Jackson metro area, which also includes portions of Southern Illinois, showed a slight gain in jobs, 0.8 percent, in a three-month period ending in February compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the Adversity Index compiled by Moody's Economy.com and msnbc.com.

"I am very encouraged by our ninth-place ranking in the nation for current annualized job growth," Mayor Harry Rediger said in a news release. "This ranking will not go unnoticed and I feel it will serve as a catalyst during the balance of 2010 and into 2011 as we continue to add and attract new jobs to our area."

Of 384 metro areas, the Cape Girardeau-Jackson area was one of only 16 in the study that showed job growth. The St. Joseph, Mo., area was the only other Missouri area to make this list.

"We all believe that the local economy is pretty strong," said Mitch Robinson, director of Cape Girardeau Area Magnet. "We don't have the boom and bust situations that other areas have."

This area received a metropolitan statistical area designation by the U.S. Department of Commerce last summer as a result of its growing population, Robinson said.

As a result, the region is now included in a number of federal government data comparisons.

"It lets you know where you stand next to other communities and allows you to address it, whether it's good news or bad news," said John Mehner, president and CEO of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

Although the increase in jobs isn't as large as he would have liked, Mehner said it's still positive news.

At the same time jobs were added during the study's three-month period, the area's unemployment continued to rise. Unemployment rates from December through February averaged 8.1 percent this year, compared with 7.4 percent during those same months the previous year, according to data from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

An additional 695 people were added to the labor force from December through February and of those, 323 found jobs and 372 remain unemployed, MERIC statistics show.

The diversity of the local economy, including its health care, education, retail, financial and industrial sectors, help keep it strong, Robinson said.

In the past two years Cape Girardeau has seen some manufacturing losses including the closing of Thorngate Ltd. and Dana Corp. But in the first quarter of 2010, Robinson said he's talked to several companies that are now adding jobs.

The loss of 125 jobs announced earlier this month at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri's Cape Girardeau facility were not reflected in this report.

The Adversity Index was created to track the economic fortunes of states and metro areas, according to MSNBC's website.

Factors considered to compile the index include employment, industrial production, housing starts and home prices.

The Cape Girardeau-Jackson metro area is designated in the study as expanding, Robinson said.

The Cape Girardeau Area Magnet office has worked with several companies this spring that are either looking to expand or start new operations here.

"Right after the first of the year was very good. Since the end of March it's slowed down a bit on the industrial side," Robinson said. "It seems like retail is now picking up. People are starting to think about making some new investments in this area."

Workforce Employment Solutions, which works with more than 500 area companies, has seen an increase in staffing requests.

"Despite what you may read or hear on national news, companies in Southeast Missouri are hiring and have been for the last six months" said Joe Rozier, vice president of Workforce Employment Solutions.

Companies that have survived are seeing increases in demand as they pick up business from their competitors who have since folded.

Companies are requesting help in filling positions in manufacturing, logistics, warehousing and administrative work, Rozier said.

"We have never been more positive about what is happening, in the Cape market especially," he said. "Good jobs are out there."

mmiller@semisourian.com

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