FOR JOB SEKERS, THIS IS TIME TO BE WORKING

Area employers are virtually begging for workers. Sign after sign around town tells potential employees that businesses are hiring "smiling faces" or paying a little more than the competition.

Cape Girardeau's unemployment rate is at an enviable 2.4 percent, which means everybody who really wants a job and is able to work is employed. Granted, not everybody has keys to the executive washroom, but people are working, and there's honor in any kind of steady, honest employment.

The unemployment figures certainly are good news for job hunters. It's a job seeker's market. Moves to raise the minimum wage by $1 wouldn't even affect most businesses or employers around Cape Girardeau because starting wages already are considerably over the proposed minimum.

There's no sign of things going south for either employees or employers in the near future, but the nature of the economy is that it will happen. The key is for workers to get into good jobs now and build up security for the future.