UNEMPLOYMENT: DECLINES SEEN IN NUMBER OF COUNTIES

Two-hundred people can make a big difference in unemployment figures for a small county.

Bollinger County is case in point.

The work force in Bollinger for July was 4,605.

"Of that total, 3,963 people had jobs," said Jackie Cecil, director of the Missouri Job Service office at Cape Girardeau. "But 642 people were jobless, and that all figures out to a 13.9 percent unemployment."

A month later, Bollinger County reported 8.2 percent unemployment, the largest unemployment decline in the state.

"I can explain how it happened but not why it happened," said Cecil, whose office oversees unemployment rates in Bollinger, Perry and Cape Girardeau counties. "The work force declined by almost 200 people."

The August work force was reported at 4,406, 199 less than the month before. "Employment was up, too," added Cecil. "A total of 4,046 people were working, leaving only 360 without jobs, compared to 642 in July."

The work force in Cape Girardeau County also declined, by 327, but with a force of 35,536, the unemployment rate wasn't severely affected.

A total of 33,893 people had jobs in Cape County, resulting in a 4.6 unemployment rate, which was down one percentage point from the 4.7 of a month earlier.

Many counties reported declines in unemployment, including Perry, which was down a half percentage point, from 5.3 in July to 4.8 in August.

New Madrid reported a 3.5 percent decline in unemployment, from the double-digit total of 13.2 to 9.7.

Statewide, the unemployment rate dropped three percentage points, from 6.5 percent in July to 6.2 in August. The unemployment rate has dropped a half-percentage point over the past two months statewide.

In June, the state's rate was 6.9 percent. It dropped to 6.5 in July, and to 6.2 percent in August.

Donna M. White, director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said last week that the August report includes several indications that the state's economy is on a positive track.

"Unemployment is down 9,300 from July and there were 14,100 fewer unemployed Missourians than in August a year ago," she said. "Unemployment rates have remained steady or declined while the state labor force has increased."

White noted that the state work force stood at 2,685,022 in August, up 24,700 from August 1991.

"This is the first time that an August work force has topped 2.5 million," said White. "More people were working in August than any August in history."

The August employment figures showed 2.5 million Missourians had jobs.

Several areas of employment recorded over-the-year growth in August.

"Health service employment was 203,600, up 4,100 from a year ago," said White. "Local government employment (187,000) was up 3,900 from a year ago and heavy construction employment was up to 13,700, an increase of 1,500 over a year ago."

White said several industries also recorded some monthly employment gains. All three areas of construction general building contractors, heavy construction and special trade contractors had increased employment for the month. And, there were 1,700 more people in retail work than in July.

Manufacturing and retail trade employment gains contributed to lower jobless rates throughout Illinois as the unemployment rate dropped 1.5 percent, from 8 percent in July to 6.5 in August. The decline was also noticed throughout Southern Illinois.

"Declines were noted in 16 of the 17 counties in Southern Illinois," said Charles M. Vessell, labor market economist for the Illinois Department of Employment Security in Harrisburg.

"Some sizable declines were noted, but this can be explained by the small size of each county. Even small changes in employment can produce large percentage changes from month to month."

Pulaski and Alexander counties are traditionally among the unemployment leaders. They still are, but the Pulaski County unemployment rate dropped almost 4 percentage points, from 18.3 in July to 14.7 in August. Alexander County dropped 2.5 percentage points, from 16.7 in July to 14.2 in August.

Perry County in Illinois was the highest unemployment area in August, with 18.8 percent.

Williamson is the only county in the area to post an increase in unemployment, going from 10.6 in July to 12.4 in August.