Revised figures set Missouri’s unemployment rate back 0.5 percent

After annual revisions, Missouri's unemployment rate is up half a percentage point from previously reported figures.

The unemployment rate for January 2022 was 3.8 percent in Missouri, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. It's down slightly from the annually revised December 2021 rate of 3.9 percent.

MERIC previously reported last December's unemployment rate to be 3.3 percent, the lowest rate Missouri has experienced since 2019.

MERIC's employment and unemployment estimates are revised each year through a revision and benchmarking process that incorporates additional data and estimation methods, such as new population controls from the Census Bureau.

The unemployment rates for individual months throughout 2021 increased anywhere from 0.1-0.7 percent from the state's original estimates, according to MERIC.

"This change is due to re-estimations and additional data that show the number of unemployed in Missouri to be higher than originally estimated, while the number of individuals employed being lower than originally estimated," the monthly employment report states.

Under the revised data, Missouri's unemployment rate in 2021 fell from 5 percent at the start of the year to 3.9 percent by the end. Throughout the year, the state's unemployment rate remained at or below the national rate.

At 3.8 percent, Missouri started 2022 with an unemployment rate 1.2 percent lower than the start of last year.

An estimated 118,052 Missourians were unemployed in January, which is down more than 2,000 from the previous month.

The state's rate is slightly below the national unemployment rate of 4 percent for January.

An estimated 2,894,800 Missourians were employed in January, according to MERIC, which is an increase of 9,100 jobs from the revised estimate for last December.

Goods-producing and service- providing industries saw employment gains in January, with goods-producing industries adding 2,000 jobs and private service-providing industries adding 6,700 jobs.

Government employment also increased by 400 jobs for the month.

The Jefferson City area saw a decrease in employment between December 2021 and January 2022, from 77,600 jobs to 77,500.

Employment across the state has increased by 86,200 jobs since January 2021.

The largest employment gains in 2021 were in the leisure and hospitality industry, which added 32,600 jobs over the year.

Professional and business services added the second most jobs with 19,000 and trade, transportation and utilities added another 11,800 jobs in 2021.

Most major industries saw a rise in employment over the year, according to MERIC, but the financial activities industry lost 3,300 jobs.

Government employment grew by 6,900 jobs over the year and state government led the increase with 4,000 jobs added.

In Jefferson City, employment grew by 1,100 jobs over 2021, from 76,400 in January 2021 to 77,500 in January 2022. Increasing 4.7 percent over the year, retail trade had the largest employment growth in the area.