Missouri adds more jobs than all bordering states in first quarter of 2012, DED reports

Release Date: 04/23/2012
Contact: John Fougere,  (573) 522-5058

JEFFERSON CITY – According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs data, Missouri employers added 27,500 jobs in the first quarter of 2012 – more than all of our neighboring states, the Missouri Department of Economic Development reported today.

 

Jobs data for our bordering states are as follows:

 

State                            Jobs added/lost in first quarter (January to March)

 

Arkansas                          4,800

Illinois                             22,000

Iowa                                9,900

Kansas                            12,300

Kentucky                        17,600

Missouri                          27,500

Nebraska                          -500

Oklahoma                        14,800

Tennessee                        17,800

 

Of the total number of new jobs, Missouri manufacturers have added 7,000 new jobs in the first quarter of 2012.

 

Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 7.4 in March. The state’s unemployment rate is currently at a 39-month low and now has fallen by 2.3 percent since peaking at 9.7 percent in August 2009.  In comparison, the U.S. rate for March 2012 was 8.2 percent.

 

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