Missouri Unemployment Inches Down

Missouri's smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point in September 2022, declining to 2.4 percent from the revised August 2022 rate of 2.5 percent, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. The September 2022 rate was 1.6 percentage points lower than the September 2021 rate.

A year ago, the state's seasonally adjusted rate was 4.0 percent. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 74,542 in September 2022, down by 1,614 from August's 76,156.       

The national unemployment rate decreased from 3.7 in August 2022 to 3.5 in September 2022. Missouri's unemployment rate has been at or below the national rate for the last five years.        

Missouri's labor force participation rate was 62.4 percent in September 2022, one-tenth of a percentage point higher than the national rate of 62.3 percent. Missouri's employment-population ratio was 60.9 percent in September 2022, eight-tenths of a percentage point higher than the national rate of 60.1 percent.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story