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Payrolls drop as Missouri misses release dates

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 23:50

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(Before It's News)

As the jobless rate climbed, the state failed again to hit the scheduled release date for the jobs data.

The unemployment rate inched up to 7.2 percent in July from 7.1 percent during June, according a press release sent shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The short release by the Missouri Department of Economic Development blames the heat and the drought for a 7,700 drop in nonfarm payrolls.

Despite being scheduled for release and citing “data released today,” the department did not post the latest unemployment data, making it the fourth time this year it missed the release date.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, meanwhile, toured the state touting jobs. His first stop in the morning was at a groundbreaking ceremony in Kansas City.

“We will continue to fight for every job, every day to put Missourians back to work and to keep our economy moving forward,” the governor said, citing a plan by Freightquote.com Inc. to bring 1,225 new jobs from across the border in Kansas into Missouri and build a 200,000 square-foot facility.

On the other side of the state in Franklin County in the afternoon, Nixon was on hand to announce that Henniges Automotive plans to create 200 new jobs when it adds an additional production line.

“Great companies like Henniges Automotive are creating jobs and growing our economy,” he said.

Anticipating that the state might, yet again, miss the scheduled release for the newest labor data, Missouri Journal filed another Sunshine Law request to receive the numbers Tuesday morning.

The department has no more than three business days to respond to this latest request.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release its version of the labor data Friday morning.

Last month, the data revealed that in addition to the nonfarm payrolls in Missouri dropping by 4,100 in June, the civilian labor force also dropped by 12,603 compared to the previous month.

It is possible for the labor force and the unemployment rate to drop simultaneously, since a person must be actively seeking employment to be included among the unemployed by the government.

By Brian R. Hook, [email protected], (314) 482-7944

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