Saint Louis Job News & Opportunities St. Louis Front Page is a weekly news publication, with daily updates, spotlighting attractions, events, business and hospitality in St. Louis, Missouri and Southwest Illinois. St. Louis News Community Info St. Louis Job News St. Louis CitySide Business News St. Charles News Southwest, IL News Fairview Heights,IL Art Gallery News Hotel News Restaurant News Style St. Louis Not Just For Kids   Downtown Map America's Center Busch Stadium Gateway Arch Savvis Center Laclede's Landing Old Courthouse Union Station Washington Avenue   Metropolitan Map Casinos Clayton, MO Grand Center Grant's Farm Forest Park Kimmswick, MO MO Botanical Garden Soulard St. Charles, MO West Port Plaza Transportation Lambert Airport How To Reach Us: St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com Missouri Labor Market Shows Improvement ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) August 2, 2005 - Missouri created nearly 40,000 new jobs in the first six months of the year while unemployment fell to its lowest level in more than two years, according to a report issued Monday by the Department of Economic Development. "I am very encouraged that Missouri's economy has shown significant improvement in the last six months and I am committed to working to make sure these trends continue," Missouri Governor Matt Blunt said in a statement. "We believe that our recent legislative successes in the areas of economic development and litigation and workers' compensation reform will strengthen our jobs climate even further." The Economic Conditions Report prepared by the Department of Economic Development's Missouri Economic Research and Information Center shows that since January, 39,700 new jobs were created while the state's unemployment rate in June fell to 5.4 percent - the lowest rate since February, 2003. Private sector employment grew by 42,800 jobs in the first six months of the year. "The improvement in labor markets that was seen as the missing piece in the earlier stages of economic recovery now seems to be in place," said the report which concludes that "economic conditions in Missouri are much improved and the expectations remain for continued growth in the coming months." Missouri also has seen an increase in personal income which is considered an indicator of economic well-being of state residents. Earnings and wages make up the largest portion of personal income. For the first quarter of 2005, the real personal income of Missourians grew faster than the U.S. rate and is now 7.5 percent higher than in 2000. The report also shows while there has been a nationwide decrease in manufacturing employment, Missouri has bucked that trend. In each of the past four months, there were more than 315,000 manufacturing jobs in the state which is the highest employment has been since early 2003. Manufacturing saw an increase of 5,000 jobs between January and June of this year. Missouri's Purchasing Manager's Index, which measures new orders, production, supplier delivery times, backlogs, inventories, prices, employment, import orders and exports, remains strong, receiving a score of 56 in June. A score above 50 indicates an expansionary economy. The report also found that for the first quarter of 2005, Missouri had $16.5 billion in taxable sales which is a proxy measure of retail sales. The recent taxable sales estimates for the first quarter represent a 3.6 percent increase in actual dollars over the same period in 2004. "More Missourians are working and incomes are on the rise which is good for our workers and their families and we will continue to work to increase economic opportunities for all our citizens," Blunt said. "This report is a sign that we are headed in the right direction." 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