December Jobs Report

     Missouri non-farm payroll employment decreased by 5,000 jobs from November 2022 to December 2022, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by one-tenth of a percentage point. Private industry employment decreased by 5,300 jobs and government employment increased by 300 jobs.
     The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.8 percent in December 2022, an increase of one-tenth of a percentage point from 2.7 percent in November 2022. Over the year, there was an increase of 47,600 jobs from December 2021 to December 2022, and the unemployment rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points, from 3.9 percent in December 2021 to 2.8 percent in December 2022.

UNEMPLOYMENT       
     Missouri's smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by one-tenth of a percentage point in December 2022, rising to 2.8 percent from the revised November 2022 rate of 2.7 percent. The December 2022 rate was 1.1 percentage point lower than the December 2021 rate of 3.9 percent. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 84,553 in December 2022, up by 1,528 from November's 83,025.  
     The national unemployment rate decreased from 3.6 in November 2022 to 3.5 in December 2022. Missouri's unemployment rate has been at or below the national rate for the last five years.    
     The state's not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate decreased in December 2022, declining by one-tenth of a percentage point to 2.3 percent from the November 2022 not-seasonally-adjusted rate of 2.4 percent. A year ago, the not-seasonally-adjusted rate was 3.4 percent. The corresponding not-seasonally-adjusted national rate for December 2022 was 3.3 percent.
     Missouri's labor force participation rate was 62.6 percent in December 2022, three-tenths of a percentage point higher than the national rate of 62.3 percent. Missouri's employment-population ratio was 60.9 percent in December 2022, eight-tenths of a percentage point higher than the national rate of 60.1 percent. Missouri's unemployment rate was 2.8 percent in December 2022, seven-tenths of a point lower than the national rate of 3.5 percent.

EMPLOYMENT         
     Missouri's non-farm payroll employment was 2,933,300 in December 2022, down by 5,000 from the revised November 2022 figure. The November 2022 total was revised downward from the preliminary estimate by 2,000 jobs.   
     Goods-producing industries decreased by 4,300 jobs over the month, with manufacturing gaining 200 jobs and mining, logging, & construction declining by 4,500 jobs. Private service-providing industries decreased by 1,000 jobs between November 2022 and December 2022. Employment in private service-providing industries decreased in leisure & hospitality (-3,600 jobs); professional & business services (-1,200 jobs); and information (-400 jobs).  Employment increased in educational & health services (1,700 jobs); other services (1,100 jobs); financial activities (800 jobs); and trade, transportation, & utilities (600 jobs).  Government employment increased by 300 jobs over the month with all gains occurring in local government.    
     Over the year, total payroll employment increased by 47,600 jobs from December 2021 to December 2022. The major private-sector industry groups that increased were professional & business services (14,500 jobs); educational & health services (11,000 jobs); manufacturing (6,900 jobs); financial activities (5,900 jobs); leisure & hospitality (4,900 jobs); other services (4,300 jobs); and mining, logging, & construction (3,300 jobs). Employment decreased in trade, transportation, & utilities (-2,700 jobs) and information (-1,300 jobs).  Government employment increased over the year, with a gain of 800 jobs. Government employment increased in local government (2,300 jobs) and state government (900 jobs). Employment decreased over the year in federal government (-2,400 jobs). ​