COVID-19

Increase in U.S. job hiring still shows high unemployment rate

In May, employers in 46 states added jobs following a promising addition of 2.5 million jobs in April nationwide, according to the AP. The surprisingly gain gave hope that the job market bottomed out in April, however recent numbers show… more

Coping with COVID: Quarantine fatigue could be the cause in rise of new cases

In Missouri stay-at-home orders have been lifted, with local exceptions throughout the state including in the Kansas City metro. Over the last several days, the state and surrounding Kansas City region has seen a growing number of new cases. State… more

Second PPP loan possible with new bill proposal

Businesses with fewer than 100 employees may be able to draw once again from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to a report from Fox Business. On June 18, the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program Act was introduced by Sens. Ben Cardin,… more

MU and KU enforce mask policy for returning students in the fall

After the decision to continue in-person classes for the fall semester, both the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Kansas has announced Thursday that they will be requiring students to wear face masks while indoors in class, according to… more

Coping with COVID: Missouri sees continued uptick in COVID-19 cases and deaths

The web site rt.live, which has tracked estimated rates of viral transmission by state since April, adjusted its model today, a change that currently ranks Missouri among the top 10 states for growth in the rate of COVID-19 spread. The… more

Softbank to sell most of its T-Mobile shares

Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank is planning to sell as much as two-thirds of its stake in T-Mobile after pulling in record losses last year, according to CNBC. The potential sale of its stake in T-Mobile is part of SoftBank’s plan first… more

Kansas May 2020 Labor Market Report

The Labor Market Information Services division of the Kansas Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.0 percent in May, according to a news release from the Kansas Department of Labor… more

In a Nutshell by Ken Herman

Would extensive COVID-19 contact tracing be worthwhile? A June 8th Wall Street Journal article titled “States Struggle to Staff Up to Trace Virus” discussed staffing challenges while also admitting limitations in stopping the spread of COVID-19.  While admitting that total… more

Unemployment rate in Missouri drops to 10.1 percent

Major job losses in April due to COVID-19 saw shutdowns that touched nearly every sector of Missouri’s labor market. Thankfully, in May Missouri began to see slight improvement regarding labor numbers. Some revisions were made to the seasonal adjustment factors… more

Coping with COVID: Request for more COVID-19 testing in Kansas City

Approaching three months since the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closures across the U.S. and world, the demand for increased testing – and access to it – has received attention from the Kansas City, Missouri Health Department. While… more