DED releases May jobs report

Jefferson City

May jobs report highlights:

• Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased by 2,500 jobs in May.
• Missouri's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 3.3 percent.

To view the May 2019 jobs report, click here. 

Economic indicators  you need to know:

Job growth and record low unemployment fuel Missouri's workforce

The number of jobs in the state continues to rise.

  •  Missouri’s economy added 2,500 jobs this month.
  • Over the past year, employment has grown by 31,000 jobs. 
  • Unemployment remained steady at near record lows.                      
  • Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.3 percent.
  •  Out of the roughly 3 million individuals in Missouri’s civilian labor force, only an estimated 101,321 were unemployed in May.
  • Missouri continues to see over-the-year job gains across key industries.
  • Accommodation and Food Services (+10,400 jobs, up 4 percent)
  • Manufacturing  (+7,600 jobs, up 2.8 percent)
  • Health Care and Social Assistance (+10,800 jobs, up 2.6 percent)
  • Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (+4,200 jobs, up 2.6 percent)

 

Missouri sees growth in annual average wages

  • Missouri has seen wage growth every year for the past four years.

 

Wage Growth Rate is Accelerating

 

 

Missouri's annual average wage growth over time. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.​

  • Missouri’s statewide annual average wage reached an all-time high of $49,050 in 2018, a 3.6 percent increase over 2017
  • and a 10.6 percent increase over 2014. 
  • Several Missouri counties saw particularly high average wage increases in 2018: 
  • Newton County, home to Neosho and metro Joplin (+13.7 percent)
  • St. Louis County (+5.2 percent) and St. Louis City (+4.2 percent)
  • Webster County, home to Marshfield and metro Springfield (+4.4 percent)
  • 74 percent of Missouri’s 114 counties had an annual average wage increase of more than 2 percent in 2018. Only three
  • counties have seen wage decreases since 2014.
  • St. Louis City and County each had an annual average wage of over $60,500 in 2018. Jackson County, home to Kansas
  • City and Independence, reached an annual average wage of $56,500.

 

The figures above are drawn from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), a cooperative program between the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Missouri Department of Economic Development. A full breakdown of QCEW data can be found here. 

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