13,000 Jobs Added in October

The Missouri Department of Economic Development announced Tuesday the state added 13,000 non-farm jobs in October.Despite the job gain, the unemployment rate remained at 6.9 percent, which is still below the national rate of 7.9 percent.The DED says Missouri has added 25,500 new jobs in 2012 and the unemployment rate has dropped almost 3 percent from a peak of 9.7 during the peak of the recession.The report also shows the civilian labor force in Missouri grew by almost 12,000 from September to October. The labor force consists of people with jobs and those who are out unemployed by actively looking for jobs.October’s biggest job increases were in the professional and business services sector, which added 6,700 jobs. The trade, transportation and utilities sector grew by 5,200, while hospitality and leisure added 1,800 jobs.Those increases were partly offset by declines of roughly 1,100 jobs in financial activities and 900 in manufacturing.