Trendsights Newsletter

Accommodations and Food Services Employment in Missouri
Analysis from the Missouri Census Data Center shows employment in the Accommodation and Food Services sector remained relatively stable in Missouri between 2011 and 2021. Mercer County saw the most significant percent decline, with an approximate 89% drop in sector employment over the decade. Accommodation and Food Services encompasses a wide range of establishments that primarily engage in providing lodging and/or preparing meals, snacks, and beverages for immediate consumption. These establishments play a vital role in supporting tourism, business travel, and community life, offering essential services to both residents and visitors.
Online Job Postings for August 2025
Job postings are an indicator of demand and opportunities in an area. Online job postings in Missouri decreased from 77,260 in July 2025 to 61,640 in August. Health Care and Social Assistance continues to lead job postings in every region.
Business Formation Statistics for July
Business formations data indicate that business applications in the U.S. totaled 470,571 in July 2025, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to June, seasonally adjusted. Business Formation Statistics (BFS) provided by the U.S. Census Bureau measure business initiation activity and the cycle from initiation to realized business formation. These statistics give an early look at business formation activity within the U.S. and at a detailed state and regional level. In Missouri, business applications in July 2025 totaled 8,277 applications, an increase of 2.1 percent from June.
Cost of Living Second Quarter 2025
Missouri had the sixth lowest cost of living in the United States for the second quarter of 2025. In general, the most expensive areas to live were Hawaii, Alaska, the Northeast, and the West Coast. The least expensive areas were the Midwest and Southern states.
Career Pathway: Agribusiness
Career Pathways are groups of occupations within a career field. Occupations within a pathway share common skills, knowledge, and interests. The pathways use industry-recognized credentials and are examples of how different levels of training or education can help provide opportunities for career advancement. Agribusiness represents 1.9 percent of total private sector employment in Missouri, employing more than 47,800 workers in over 2,400 businesses in 2023. Employment in Agribusiness has been steadily growing, increasing an average of 2.1 percent per year from 2018 to 2023.
North Region Career Outlook
Career Grades are a tool to help make comparisons between occupations. Each occupation is assigned a letter grade from A+ to F based on its outlook over the next decade. The North region is projected to have over 21,400 annual job openings through 2032. Examples of occupations in the region with an A or B career grade are stockers and order fillers, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, nursing assistants, maintenance and repair workers, general and operations managers, and human resources specialists.
Occupational Handbook: Machinists and Tool and Die Makers
Machinists and tool and die makers set up and operate equipment to produce precision metal parts, instruments, and tools. Skills needed for these occupations can include math, blueprint and engineering drawing reading, metalworking, use of welding and cutting tools, and the programming and use of CNC machines. Some workers in these fields are trained on the job and others learn through training or apprenticeship programs, vocational schools, or community and technical colleges. The median annual wage for machinists in Missouri was $57,920 in 2024 and the median annual wage for tool and die makers was $60,940. The occupations combined are projected to have an estimated 800 openings annually in the state.
Ozark Region Commuting Profile
The Ozark Workforce Development Area (WDA) consists of seven counties, including Greene, which is home to the region’s largest city (Springfield). In 2022, the Ozark WDA employed 9.3 percent of Missouri’s workforce. Of the more than 210,000 workers employed in the region, 75.2 percent commuted to work from within the region. The remainder (24.8%) commuted into Ozark WDA from homes outside of the region. Click on the link above to learn more about the Ozark Region’s workforce commuting habits.
Happy 204th Birthday, Missouri!
Missouri became the 24th state on August 10, 1821. Missouri is the 18th largest state in the U.S. by area and the 19th largest by population with an estimated 6,245,466 residents in 2024. Celebrate Missouri’s 204th birthday by learning more about the state’s population, income, business, and demographic characteristics from this U.S. Census Bureau profile.
Quarterly Real Time Job Summaries
There were 199,160 online job postings in Missouri from April 2025 to June 2025. The city with the most job postings in this region was St. Louis. With 5,580 online job postings, Retail Salespersons was the occupation with the most job postings for positions that can be started with short-term on-the-job training, little-to-no experience, and/or with a high school diploma. Explore more of the job postings trends for Missouri and its nine workforce regions in this interactive report.
Missouri Business Index for July
Missouri’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for July 2025 was 51.8, increasing 1.0 points from the June level of 50.8. In comparison, the Mid-America Region index dipped to 49.4 in July. The monthly Mid-America Business Conditions Survey conducted by Creighton University is considered a key economic indicator. It measures such factors as new orders, production, supplier delivery times, backlogs, inventories, prices, employment, import orders and exports. Typically, a score greater than 50 indicates an expansionary economy while a score below 50 forecasts a sluggish economy.
Skills Transfer in Office and Administrative Support Occupations
The economy and workforce are constantly changing and evolving due to changes in technology, how and where work is done, and the needs of consumers. Jobs that were in-demand in the past may not be in-demand today, or in the future, but the skills from those jobs may apply to careers in other fields. Explore how skills in some of the Office and Administrative Support occupations that are projected to decline in employment may transfer to different higher-demand occupations. Some occupations require additional training, but others may need little-to-no additional preparation.
Back-to-School Fun Facts
The back-to-school season is among the most significant shopping events for consumers and retailers, second only to the winter holidays, according to the National Retail Federation. Nationally, consumers plan to spend $39.4 billion on back-to-school shopping and $88.8 billion on college purchases in 2025. From August 1-3, 2025, Missouri hosts a sales tax holiday to help families with certain back-to-school purchases.
Missouri Businesses By Size
Missouri was home to more than 230,000 private sector establishments in 2024. Small businesses employed a significant portion of the private sector workforce in the state. Just over 46 percent of the state’s workforce was employed at businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Medium-sized businesses (50-249 employees) employed 28.4 percent of the private sector workforce, while large employers (250 or more) employed 25.4 percent. Click on the link above to learn more about Missouri businesses.
June Job Ad Comparison
Job postings increased 23 percent from June 2024 to June 2025. In June 2025, there were 71,960 online job postings compared to 58,740 in June 2024. Most industries increased from last year, apart from Educational Services, which decreased 11 percent. Accommodation and Food Services had the largest increase at 44 percent.
Missouri is a Hub for Ice Cream Manufacturing
July is National Ice Cream Month and data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Missouri has the 5th highest concentration of ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturing employment, behind only Utah, Connecticut, Maryland, and Oregon. With a location quotient of 1.86, employment in this industry is nearly twice as concentrated in Missouri compared to the rest of the nation.
Jefferson City Ranks in Top 10 of Small Metros
Recognizing their critical role, the Best-Performing Cities (BPC) index evaluates the relative economic performance of 403 metropolitan areas, providing valuable insights into the strengths and vulnerabilities of these economic metros. Of the 203 small metros evaluated, Jefferson City, Missouri ranked 6th in the nation, followed by Cape Girardeau (55), Columbia (75), Joplin (87), and St. Joseph (138). In the ranking of the 200 large metros, Springfield ranked 67th, followed by St. Louis (81) and Kansas City (92).
Southeast Region Commuting Profile
The Southeast Workforce Development Area (WDA) consists of 13 counties and is home to Dexter, Perryville, Jackson, Sikeston, and Cape Girardeau, which is the largest city in the region. In 2022, the Southeast WDA employed 4.5 percent of Missouri’s workforce. Of the 101,630 workers employed in the region in 2022, 76.4 percent commuted to work from within the region. The remainder (23.6%) commuted into Southeast WDA from homes outside of the region. Click on the link above to learn more about the Southeast Region’s workforce commuting habits.
2025 Kids Count Data Book
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT® is a premier source of data on children, youth and families. Recently updated for 2025, the report and interactive data tool provides indicators for the nation, states, county and cities for factors such as demographics, education, economic well-being, family and community, health, and safety. Click on the link above to explore the latest data for Missouri’s youth.
County Average Wages
St. Louis City had the highest average annual wage across all private industries in 2024 at $79,605, nearly $15,000 more than the state average of $64,754. County average wage figures are derived from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), a cooperative program between the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. Click on the link above to view county average wages for both privately-owned industries and for all industries combined.
Celebrating July 4th
The Fourth of July is projected to generate more than $8.9 billion in food spending in the U.S. as 86 percent of Americans plan to celebrate the holiday. In Missouri, the state’s 17 snack food manufacturers may help supply the 61 percent who are planning a cookout or BBQ to celebrate. Click on the link above to learn more fun facts about the upcoming holiday.
Missouri's GDP, 1st Quarter 2025
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the broadest measure of an area’s economic activity. In the first quarter of 2025, real GDP for the nation decreased at an annual rate of 0.5 percent. GDP decreased in 39 states, with the percent change ranging from 1.7 percent at an annual rate in South Carolina to -6.1 percent in Iowa and Nebraska. Missouri’s GDP decreased by 1.8 percent in the quarter.
Occupational Handbook: Heavy and Tractor-trailer Truck Drivers
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers transport goods from one location to another. Working as a long-haul truck driver typically requires a high school diploma and attending a professional truck driving school. Pursuing work as a long-haul truck driver is a lifestyle choice because these drivers can be away from home for days or weeks at a time. Nationally, the median annual pay for this occupation was $57,440 in 2024. In Missouri, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers are projected to have more than 5,000 openings annually with a median wage of $50,540.
Ozark Region Career Outlook
Career Grades are a tool to help make comparisons between occupations. Each occupation is assigned a letter grade from A+ to F based on its outlook over the next decade. The Ozark region is projected to have over 33,400 annual job openings through 2032. Some of the occupations in the region with an A or B career grade include customer service representatives, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, nursing assistants, general and operations managers, and accountants and auditors.