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Missouri workforce shows pattern of growth in new year though 2020 labor losses linger

A recent report from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center shows the state’s nonfarm workforce grew in January while the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined.  Despite improvement at the turn of the year, gains fell short to make up for major job loss in 2020.

Missouri’s nonfarm workforce grew in January while the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a 10th of a percentage point, according to information released last week by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC).

The MERIC data cited a January increase of nearly 6,000 nonfarm jobs in Missouri. However, that was not enough to make up for a loss of more than 100,000 jobs in the state during 2020.

Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January was 4.3%, according to MERIC, down from 4.4% in December. Meanwhile, the national jobless rate in January was 6.3%.

Because of the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Missouri’s unemployment rate in January was 0.7% higher than what it was in January 2020. The rate had been as low as 3.1% in July 2018 before gradually edging up to 3.5% by the end of 2019 and then climbing to 3.7% in March of last year.

But in April 2020, the first full month of the pandemic, Missouri’s jobless rate spiked to 12.5%, according to MERIC data.

Missouri’s monthly unemployment rate has been below the national rate for 11 consecutive months, from March 2020 through January of this year.

According to the latest report, there were 130,822 unemployed Missourians in January, down from December’s 135,112.