Statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday revealed the national unemployment rate rose slightly in August, from 9.5 to 9.6 percent.
The slight increase, the first in four months, equates to an additional loss of 54,000 jobs across the nation.
According to a statement released by the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Keith Hall, many of the August layoffs were attributable to federal government and manufacturing reductions.
“Federal government employment fell for the third consecutive month,” Hall said. “The number of temporary Census 2010 workers declined by 114,000, following declines of 225,000 and 143,000 in June and July, respectively. This leaves 82,000 temporary decennial census workers on the payroll.”
Manufacturing employment fell by 27,000 during August, mostly offsetting an increase in July, he noted.
The health-care industry gained 28,000 jobs in August, as did construction, which was up by 19,000 jobs.
Unchanged for three months was the employment-population ratio, which remained at 58.5 percent in August.
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private, nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents in August to $22.66, and for the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.7 percent.
The number of unemployed persons who have been jobless for six months or more declined to 6.2 million in August, or 42 percent of the total unemployed.
Statistics prepared by the Missouri Department of Economic Development through July show Missouri’s unemployment rate is at 9.4 percent, having slowly and incrementally increased from 8.8 percent in April. Out of a total labor force of 3.027 million people in July, 2.742 million are employed, and 284,926 are unemployed. The most recent unemployment figures for August are scheduled for release on Sept. 13.
Registering slightly less than state figures, Rolla, with a total of 21,132 residents in the labor pool, statistics show 19,474 are employed, and 1,658 are unemployed. The unemployment rate stood at 7.8 percent at the end of July.
Although Phelps County statistics mirror Rolla’s figures, the neighboring counties of Pulaski and Maries show slightly higher unemployment figures.
Of a total 22,168 people in the civilian labor pool in Pulaski County, 20,397 are employed, 1,771 are unemployed, and the end-of-July unemployment rate stood at 8 percent.
In Maries County, of 4,723 people in the civilian labor pool, 4,329 are employed, and 394 are unemployed, and the county showed an 8.3 percent unemployment rate at the end of July.
