August 2020 Missouri Jobs Report Released

The rate of Missouri labor market’s recovery was essentially flat in August 2020. Employment, seasonally adjusted, decreased by only 1,200 jobs over the month, and over-the year job losses increased slightly from upwardly revised July levels. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.0 percent from the July 2020 rate of 6.9 percent.

The U.S. economy added 1.4 million jobs in August as the unemployment rate tumbled to 8.4%

Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has now been either below or equal to the national rate for 66 consecutive months. The national unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in August 2020.

The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 215,249 in August 2020, up by 3,825 from July’s revised 211,424.

Due to on-going impacts of COVID-19 shutdowns, the August 2020 rate was still more than double the August 2019 rate. The rate was steady at 3.5 percent in January and February 2020 before the COVID-19 spike began in March 2020. The rate peaked at 10.2 percent in April 2020 before decreasing slightly in May 2020, then moving strongly lower in June and July of 2020 as COVID-19 restrictions were eased.

The U.S. economy added 1.4 million jobs in August as the unemployment rate tumbled to 8.4%, indicating the nation’s labor market is continuing a slow but steady recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

KPGZ News – Brian Watts contributed to this story