MO general revenue ticks upward

Missouri’s gross revenue collection in July was up by 0.6 percent as compared to July 2010.

The revenue increase is driven by strong individual income tax collection, which was up 9.3 percent over the same time last year.

Sales taxes remain stagnant, according to state budget director Linda Luebbering. She blames low sales tax collection on a stubbornly high unemployment rate.

“They’re still looking around them and seeing that there are still folks without jobs. That job turnaround really has got to happen before people will be confident enough to start spending money on anything that just food and gas,” Luebbering said.

But the small overall increase in revenue was enough to convince Governor Jay Nixon to release 1.2 million dollars for social programs.

Funding will go to the Area Agencies on Aging, domestic violence shelters and crisis care services for children who are at risk for abuse and neglect.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Missouri unemployment rate holds steady

The latest numbers from the Missouri Department of Economic Development indicate that the unemployment rate is holding steady in Missouri.

The state’s unemployment rate held even at 8.9 percent in both April and May … the lowest level of unemployment since April 2009. The national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent.

Missouri Department of Economic Development spokesperson John Fougere says that much of the growth came from manufacturing.

He adds that it will be interesting to see how the floods and the catastrophic tornado in Joplin will affect employment trends moving forward.

“There’s just this terrible loss for people who lose their jobs, lose their homes. On the flip side of that, when the rebuilt begins, there tends to be sometimes a bit of an economic effect where things pick because, again, there is going to be a lot economic activity that is tied to the rebuild,” Fougere said.

More information about specific counties that were affected by flooding will be released next week.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Missouri unemployment down in April

Missouri’s unemployment rate continued to move down in April, according to data released yesterday by the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Missouri’s unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent, down by two-tenths of a point from the March figure on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Since January of this year, Missouri’s unemployment rate has now fallen by seven-tenths of a point.

In comparison, the U.S. seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is currently 9.0 percent.

Construction continues to show signs of growth. Manufacturing has also been growing for several months; in April the industry employed nearly 250,000 Missourians, an increase of 7,700 jobs, or 3.2 percent, over the past year.

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Employment in SE Missouri at 10%

The February unemployment rate in Southeast Missouri hovered at 10%, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

Cape Girardeau County’s 7.9% unemployment rate was well below the state average of 9.4%.

The only other Southeast Missouri county below the state average is Perry County, with an unemployment rate of 7.1%. Perry County’s unemployment dropped by two-tenths of a percent between January and February of this year.

St. Francois County has the highest February unemployment rate in Southeast Missouri at 12.1%. Iron County has the second highest unemployment rate in the region at 11.8%, but its unemployment rate dropped by nearly a percentage point between January and February.

Boone County’s 6.6% unemployment rate is the lowest in the state. Taney County has the highest at 22.4%.

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Still no agreement on unemployment benefits

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - Missourians may soon be without their extended unemployment benefits. 23,000 Missourians still don't know whether they will see an unemployment check after April 3rd.

The senate adjourned for break without voting on a plan to accept $81 million in federal money to extend benefits from 79 to 99 weeks.

St. Louis County Republican Senator Jim Lembke previously filibustered the bill, saying it is wrong for the federal government to send borrowed money to states.

"If you went next door to your neighbor's house and went into their children's bedroom and stole their piggy bank. I mean, we're stealing from the next generation," he says.

Lembke reports that he's been getting more calls from people in other states than in Missouri.

"They're afraid that their state legislatures, you know, might get the same idea and it would affect them. My office responding to them is saying, well what the Senator is doing in Missouri doesn't affect you in Pennsylvania," Lembke says.

Leading Senate Republicans say they will use stronger measures if Lembke and his supporters continue to filibuster this bill.

Andrew Weil, Missouri Digital News

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