Tagged: unemployment

For the month of April, Missouri employers added more than 12,000 new jobs while the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.6 percent.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) has introduced a new bill that's meant to make it easier for unemployed workers to go back to school. 

Davis said currently unemployed workers risk losing their unemployment benefits if they go to a university or community college to retrain for a new career.

To help close the loophole, Davis said the new bill, called the Opportunity KNOCKS Act, would expand the definition of what constitutes a training program.

Clients of the Career Center in Moberly, Mo. may have to travel as far as Columbia to meet their unemployment needs if the center closes as scheduled later this month.

Missouri's unemployment rate inched up slightly in February although the state also posted gains in the number of jobs.

Figures released Tuesday by the state Department of Economic Development show Missouri's unemployment rate was 6.7 percent last month, up one-tenth of a percentage point from January.

Seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll rose by 3,900 jobs in February, with gains in the construction industry offset partially by loses in food services.

Regional news from the KBIA Newsroom, including:

• Continued growth forecast for Missouri revenues
• Missouri unemployment rate hits 49-month low, but there's s catch
• City Council to consider suspending demolition permits in downtown Columbia
• After precautionary lockdown, CPS reports students and staff safe