Jobless rates heading up in Southeast Missouri, according to latest state data

Unemployment rates in every Southeast Missouri county increased in June compared to the previous month as high school and college graduates entered the job market and some seasonal workers left their jobs for the summer.

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations issued June county-by-county unemployment data last week. According to the state data, Cape County's jobless rate increased for the second straight month in June to 4.2%, from 3.2% in April and 3.7% in May.

However, the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits filed by Cape County residents fell for the fifth consecutive month. That number, which was 554 in January, dropped to just 204 in June, the lowest number since February 2020, when there were only 139 initial claims filed.

In all three of the Missouri counties adjoining Cape County — Bollinger, Perry and Scott — the June jobless percentages also increased compared to May's rates. Bollinger County's rate went from 3.9% in May to 4.6% in June, the Perry County rate increased from 3.2% in May to 3.5% in June, while the unemployment rate in Scott County rose from 4.0% in May to 4.6% in June.

In other Southeast Missouri counties, the June jobless percentages compared to May's unemployment rates were:

• Butler — 5.2%, up from 4.6%.
• Dunklin — 6.5%, up from 6.0%.
• Iron — 6.6%, up from 5.5%.
• Madison — 5.0%, up from 4.3%.
• Mississippi — 5.6%, up from 4.6%.
• New Madrid — 5.5%, up from 4.6%.
• Pemiscot — 8.3%, up from 7.4%.
• Ripley — 6.3%, up from 5.3%.
• St. Francois — 5.4%, up from 4.7%.
• Ste. Genevieve — 3.9%, up from 3.3%.
• Stoddard — 5.3%, up from 4.4%.
• Wayne — 5.6%, up from 5.1%.

For the second consecutive month, Mercer County in Northwest Missouri checked in with the lowest unemployment rate in June at 2.7%, although it ticked up slightly from 2.4% in May.

Also for the second straight month, Ray County near Kansas City had the state's highest jobless rate in June at 9.4%, even though it was a half percentage point lower than its May rate of 9.9%.

Missouri's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3%, up a tenth of a percentage point from May's rate of 4.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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