Missouri's unemployment rate for September was 3.6 percent, tying with May 1979 for the lowest rate in the current labor force data series dating back to 1978.

The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations also said Thursday that 101,500 were unemployed in Missouri last month, compared to 122,000 without work in August.

Some 2,746,100 people were working in Missouri in September, up by 7,300 from August. The agency said both unemployment and employment rates are in line with typical September seasonal changes.