Cole County continues posting some of its lowest unemployment rates since the recession, at 4.7 percent in June, more than a full percentage point lower than Missouri's statewide unemployment rate.
The county's June rate remained the same as May's at 4.7 percent, marking a fourth straight month of unemployment under 5 percent in Cole County.
Despite a slight increase from April's 4.4 percent, the county's unemployment is down from the first few months of 2015, and lower than its 5.3 percent rate a year ago. It is also significantly lower than the state's June rate of 5.8 percent.
While occasional months have shown moderate spikes or dips, Cole County's unemployment rate has been steadily decreasing since mid-2014.
That's great news for people now employed who may have been struggling to find work, but it can present some challenges for the local labor market.
"It's a double-edged sword," said Shaun Sappenfield, existing business manager at the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce. "Low unemployment is a great thing, but it hurts certain employers in trying to do what they need to do."
Sappenfield said the low local unemployment rate has fostered moderate concern among large employers looking to hire in volume, as a smaller talent pool can make it more difficult to find enough qualified applicants.
"There is a concern, but I don't want to say it's a deep concern," he said. "They have to be creative in finding employees and a little more aggressive in finding employees."
Also, the staffing agencies that help companies fill positions are working in the same tight labor market.
"We've got a near crisis here just to keep our businesses here in Cole County staffed," said Paula Benne, owner of C&S Business Services in Jefferson City.
Benne said the current staffing situation is the tightest she has experienced in her 27 years in business. Her clients are looking to hire, but her business is having to be creative about finding enough job-seekers - C&S Business Services even hired a plane to fly a banner over the local fair last week in addition to its regular advertising efforts.
"We have candidates coming in, but not enough to fill all the openings," she said. "Everybody's fighting over employees. It's a struggle right now."
Companies struggling to hire in a low-unemployment market may be getting creative as well, Sappenfield said, with factors like pay and benefits. "Some are looking at their entry-level wage and reviewing that," he said.
Cole County's labor force consisted of 39,846 people in June, 1,876 of whom were unemployed, according to data from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.
The Jefferson City metropolitan area posted a 5 percent unemployment rate in June, the second-lowest among Missouri's nine statistical metropolitan areas, after Columbia.
Several Mid-Missouri counties neighboring Cole County posted low unemployment in June as well - Boone County was at 4.5 percent and Osage County at 4.6 percent. Callaway and Moniteau counties were closer to the statewide rate at 5.6 percent, with Miller County at 5.9 percent.
Cole, Osage and Boone counties were three of 15 Missouri counties with June unemployment rates under 5 percent.
Missouri's 5.8 percent unemployment rate in June was higher than the U.S. rate of 5.3 percent, which stayed flat in July. Statewide unemployment rose from 5.7 percent in May and 5.5 percent in April, after rates more than 6 percent earlier this year. State-specific unemployment data for July will not be released until later this month.
State and national unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted, while local rates are not.