June Jobs Report Released
The Missouri labor market’s recovery continued in June 2020, following the major job losses earlier in the year from COVID-19 shutdowns. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 71,600 jobs over the month, and over-the year job losses, though still substantial, were less than in April and May. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased more than two full percentage points from May 2020 to June 2020, while May’s rate was unchanged from preliminary estimates.
Missouri’s smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate went down by 2.2 percentage points in June 2020, decreasing to 7.9 percent from a revised May 2020 rate of 10.1 percent. The national unemployment rate was 11.1 percent in June 2020. Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has now been either below or equal to the national rate for 64 consecutive months.
Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 71,600 jobs over the month to total 2,689,200. Combining May and June, Missouri recovered approximately one-third of the jobs lost in March and April. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 237,649 in June 2020, down by 65,998 from May’s 303,647.
The state’s not-seasonally-adjusted rate was also 7.9 percent in June 2020, down by 1.9 percentage points from the May 2020 not-seasonally-adjusted rate of 9.8 percent. The corresponding national rate was 11.2 percent.
Missouri’s seasonally adjusted rate had reached a record low of 3.0 percent starting in July 2018, before edging up a tenth of a point in November 2018 and again in February 2018. The rate had remained at 3.2 percent through May 2019 before decreasing by a tenth of a point in June 2019. It then began a slow increase, reaching 3.4 percent in October 2019, where it remained for the remainder of 2019. The rate was steady at 3.5 percent in January and February 2020 before the COVID-19 spike began in March 2020.
A year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 3.1 percent, and the not-adjusted rate was 3.4 percent.
Missouri’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment was 2,689,200 in June 2020, up by 71,600 from the revised May figure. However, the May 2020 total was revised downward by 21,800 from the preliminary estimate, producing a revised increase of 50,900 jobs from April 2020 to May 2020 and a revised decrease of 282,400 jobs from May 2019 to May 2020.
Private-sector employment gains over the month were widespread, with substantial increases in both goods-producing industries (+9,700 jobs) and service-providing industries (+61,900 jobs). Goods-producing gains were concentrated in manufacturing (+9,900 jobs). Among service-providing industries, leisure & hospitality – the sector hardest hit by COVID-19 – added 36,400 jobs in June, with 31,100 of those coming in accommodation & food services. Trade, transportation & utilities added 20,500 jobs, professional & business services added 4,400 and “other services” added 2,700. An exception to the gains occurred in educational & health services (-3,000 jobs). An increase of 3,100 jobs in local government was mostly offset by a loss of 2,800 jobs in state government, while federal government employment showed little change.
While payroll employment improved over the month, it still showed a sizable decrease over the year, though less so than in April and May. Total payroll employment decreased by 209,600 jobs from June 2019 to June 2020. As in May, over-the-year job losses were all but universal, with only federal government (+1,000, helped by hiring for the decennial census of population) and construction spared. Goods-producing industries lost 16,000 jobs over the year, and service-providing industries lost 193,600 jobs. Manufacturing employment was down by 16,100 (-5.8 percent), while construction showed a small increase of 400 jobs (+0.3 percent). Among service-providing industries, leisure & hospitality lost 77,300 jobs (-25.1 percent) over the year. The sector had lost half its total employment between April 2019 and April 2020, but has cut that loss to a quarter of its total employment between June 2019 and June 2020. Trade, transportation & utilities lost 26,700 jobs (-4.9 percent), while employment in professional & business services was down by 23,900 (-6.3 percent). Educational & health services lost 20,800 jobs (-4.3 percent). Government employment decreased by 28,500 jobs, (-6.5 percent), with losses of 18,900 jobs in local government and 10,600 jobs in state government.
