Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from October 2021 to November 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 7,600 jobs over the month, with job gains in both the goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in November 2021, down from 3.7 percent in October 2021. Missouri’s recovery continued with an increase of 73,300 jobs from November 2020 to November 2021.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Missouri’s smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point in November 2021, dropping to 3.5 percent from the October 2021 rate of 3.7 percent. The November 2021 rate was 1.2 percentage points lower than the November 2020 rate.
The national unemployment rate decreased from 4.6 percent in October 2021 to 4.2 percent in November 2021. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 108,380 in November 2021, down by 6,150 from October’s 114,530.
The state’s not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate also decreased in November 2021, dropping by two-tenths of a percentage point to 2.6 percent from the October 2021 not-seasonally-adjusted rate of 2.8 percent. The corresponding not-seasonally-adjusted national rate for November 2021 was 3.9 percent.
EMPLOYMENT
Missouri’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment was 2,863,300 in November 2021, up by 7,600 from the revised October 2021 figure. The October 2021 total was revised upward by 4,200 from the preliminary estimate, producing a revised increase of 7,700 jobs from September 2021 to October 2021 and a revised increase of 76,500 jobs from October 2020 to October 2021.
Goods-producing industries gained 500 jobs over the month. Manufacturing declined by 2,900 jobs. Service-providing industries gained 7,100 jobs between October and November 2021, with increases in professional & business services (+3,100 jobs); trade, transportation, and utilities (+3,000 jobs); and leisure & hospitality (+1,600 jobs). Government employment showed a loss of 400 jobs over the month.
Total payroll employment increased by 73,300 jobs from November 2020 to November 2021, reflecting the recovery from COVID-19 related job cuts last year. Most of the major private-sector industry groups shared in the increase, with the largest gain in the leisure & hospitality sector (+29,800 jobs), followed by the professional & business services (+25,500 jobs); trade, transportation, & utilities (+12,900 jobs); manufacturing (+5,900 jobs); and educational & health services (+5,000 jobs) sectors. Declines in private-sector employment were in the financial activities (-9,600 jobs) and information (-1,800 jobs) sectors. Government employment increased over the year, with a gain of 300 jobs overall with the largest increase concentrated in state government (+600).
Missouri’s seasonally adjusted rate had reached a low of 3.1 percent starting in August 2018, before gradually edging up to 3.5 percent by the end of 2019, and then to 3.7 percent in March 2020. In April the rate spiked to 12.5 percent. The rate decreased monthly for the rest of 2020, reaching 4.4 percent in December, and continued gradually downward through the first four months of 2021. The increase of two-tenths of a percentage point from April 2021 to June 2021 appeared to be related to a temporary shortage in the supply of semiconductor chips, which caused production slowdowns in some manufacturing industries.
Due to benchmark revisions, Missouri’s unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point higher than the national rate in January and February of 2020 but has been below the national rate for every month since February 2020.
A year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 4.7 percent, and the not-adjusted rate was 4.2 percent.
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