Unemployment rate rises to 5.6 percent

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate shot up to 5.6 percent in November, a six-tenths of a percentage point increase over the previous month, the Department of Economic Development said Wednesday.

The state's unemployment rate has been increasing since August, when the rate hit a four-year low of 4.6 percent. November's increase returns the unemployment rate to the same level as July.

The Economic Development Department said it is unsure whether the past three months of unemployment rate increases are part of a labor market trend or merely a counteraction to the unusually low August figures.

The state's November unemployment rate also was higher than the national rate of 5 percent.

While reporting the figures, the department stressed the overall job increase instead of the higher unemployment rate.

Gov. Matt Blunt described the job growth as "evidence that our economy remains strong, robust and growing."

Over the past year, Missouri's non-farm payrolls have added a total of 20,800 jobs, an increase of 0.8 percent.