Trendsights Newsletter
| Business Index Remains High Missouri’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for December was 65.3, decreasing 1.0 points from November, but still in expansion territory, according to the monthly Mid-America Business Conditions Survey, conducted by Creighton University. This key economic indicator measures factors such 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. The index has been above 50 for 19 of the last 20 months. |
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| December Jobs Report Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from November 2021 to December 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 16,700 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in December 2021, down from 3.5 percent in November 2021. Recovery from COVID-19-related layoffs continued with an increase of 77,600 jobs from December 2020 to December 2021. |
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| December Occupations and Industry Job Postings December job postings data show Registered Nurses and Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers were the occupations with the most new job postings in Missouri. The Top Job Postings interactive dashboard uses data from Emsi Burning Glass Technologies to show trends in new job postings trends, and occupations and industries with the most postings from month-to-month for Missouri and its regions. |
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| Tool May Help Missourians Find Their Fit in Health Care Thousands of jobs in health care are waiting for just the right person to apply, according to a news release from the Missouri Hospital Association. The MHA has a tool to help potential job seekers learn where they might fit in the workforce, and direct them to the training they'll need, whether they wish to enter patient care or administration. Missourihealthcareers.com guides visitors through a career quiz that can help determine their trajectory. The site uses a series of questions about education, income, patient interaction, and other relevant interests to guide individuals to career paths that meet their preferences. |
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| Census Bureau Releases 2021 State Population Estimates The U.S. Census Bureau recently released state population estimates for 2021. Missouri gained approximately 13,700 new residents, growing by 0.2 percent compared to 2020 annual estimates. Texas had the largest gain in population adding 310,288 new residents, followed by Florida and Arizona. New York saw the largest decrease in population with 319,020 fewer residents, followed by California and Illinois. |
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| New Page on MERIC Website to Find Latest Research A new page on the MERIC website now makes it easy to keep up with the latest reports and research. Quick links to reports are provided in chronological order by month and year. Add this page to your favorites or find it under "What's New?" on the homepage. |
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| MERIC Customer Satisfaction Survey is Still Open There is still time to provide feedback about MERIC products and services, like those featured in this newsletter. The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) is part of the research unit in the Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development, providing innovative data, analyses, and assistance to policymakers and the public. An important part of MERIC’s mission is to provide customer-focused products. Your feedback through this annual customer satisfaction survey will provide valuable insight to help us develop and improve our products and services in the future. The survey takes about 5 minutes or less to complete. Thank you in advance for your participation! |
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| Missouri 2021 Employer Survey Report Released A state’s employers and workforce are economic drivers of its success, and Missouri has over 200,000 payroll employers who provide jobs for 2.6 million people. In the Missouri Workforce 2021 Employer Survey, a representative sample of businesses provided insight into workforce trends, barriers to expanding employment, and future staffing, training, and support needs. Compare the results from the 2020 survey, as well as differences between metro and non-metro areas in the full report. |
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| Job Postings Dashboard Now Includes Industry Data The monthly job postings dashboard has been updated to include industry data with the November release. November job postings data show Registered Nurses and Retail Salespersons were the occupations with the most new job postings in Missouri and General Medical and Surgical Hospitals and Restaurants and Other Eating Places were the top industries. The Top Job Postings interactive dashboard uses data from Emsi Burning Glass for new job postings trends from month-to-month for Missouri and the Workforce Development Areas. |
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| Winter Holiday Outlook Spending for the 2021 holiday season is predicted to reach record levels, totaling between $843 to $859 billion. More than 40 percent of Americans plan to travel, and both consumers and retailers have concerns about receiving holiday orders on time. See more about holiday shopping, shipping, and decorating in this holiday outlook. |
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| 12 Days of Christmas Price Index For the 38th year, PNC Wealth Management released its Christmas Price Index, a whimsical look at the cost of the gifts in the classic holiday song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, and how those prices change over time. This year's index compares to 2019 to eliminate the pandemic's impact on prices, particularly for performers. Overall, the gifts will cost more than $41,000 this year, an increase of 5.7 percent compared to 2019. See the full index for an interactive look at the price of True Love's gifts. |
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| MERIC Customer Satisfaction Survey MERIC Customer Satisfaction Survey The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) is part of the research unit in the Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development, providing innovative data, analyses, and assistance to policymakers and the public. An important part of MERIC’s mission is to provide customer-focused products. Your feedback through this annual customer satisfaction survey will provide valuable insight to help us develop and improve our products and services in the future. The survey takes about 5 minutes or less to complete. Thank you in advance for your participation! |
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| Industry Concentration Brief and Dashboard Industry concentration analysis, using location quotients (LQ), helps identify the industries that are more specialized in a geographic area. Businesses that are more specialized, due to exporting goods and services, or because they draw customers in from outside the state, are important sources of income and opportunity to an area. This updated industry concentration brief highlights the industries concentrated in Missouri, and new interactive Tableau dashboard can be used to explore industry concentrations for the state and its counties. |
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| Thanksgiving Fun Facts - All About the Bird Did you know that nearly nine in ten Americans plan to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, gobbling up 46 million turkeys? About 16.5 million of those turkeys were produced in Missouri. Learn more fun facts about Thanksgiving’s main course and its connection to Missouri at the link above. |
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| Cost of Living Third Quarter Missouri had the 12th lowest cost of living in the United States for the third quarter 2021. St. Joseph, Missouri was newly added to the cost of living series this quarter. All of the participating Missouri cities had a composite index below the national average for the third quarter 2021, with Joplin the lowest overall index in the state. See the indices for groceries, housing, utilities, and other categories for all states and seven of Missouri’s larger cities for the third quarter. |
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| Real-Time Job Summaries Missouri employers posted 179,615 job ads from July through September, with 79 percent for full-time positions. Health Care and Social Assistance was the industry with the largest number of job postings, making up 30 percent of the total. Click on the above link to see the summaries for the state and each region. |
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| New Partnership Shows Wage and Employment Outcomes for MO Graduates Missouri has joined the U.S. Census Bureau’s Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), an experimental data product, which provides data on employment and wages for degree and certificate programs at participating institutions. The Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development (MDHEWD) has been able to publish wage and employment data for graduates who stay in Missouri, but the PSEO uses the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) data to follow graduates to 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, expanding the reach of outcomes data. |
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| St. Louis Region Profile The St. Louis Region is comprised of five counties and is located in east central Missouri. The region is home to several cities including Arnold, Washington, St. Charles, St. Peters, Florissant, O’Fallon, Chesterfield, and the City of St. Louis. The St. Louis Region workforce has more than 1,003,000 employees, making up 35 percent of Missouri’s employment. Learn more about the workforce, occupations, and industries of the St. Louis Region in this annual profile. |
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| Halloween Fun Facts Celebrate Halloween along the 66 percent of Midwesterners, including Missourians, who plan to celebrate this year, with some ghostly facts and figures. Total spending in the nation for Halloween is estimated to reach $10 billion, with the average person spending $102.74. Candy is expected to make up one-third of that spending, some of which may be on products from Missouri’s 21 chocolate and candy manufacturing companies. |
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| Missouri Data Center Population Demographics Tool The Missouri Data Center (MCDC) population trends with demographics data tool now has data through 2020 for the nation, states, and counties. Use this tool to quickly see population changes by race and age over time. |
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| Central Region Profile Missouri's Central Region has more than 306,400 employees, making up 10 percent of Missouri's employment. Health Care and Social Assistance was the largest industry sector in the region, with more than 43,000 jobs in 2020. Learn more about the Central Region in this annual profile. |
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| Manufacturing in America Manufacturing in America plays a major role in our economy with 12.1 million employees producing goods that are consumed domestically and exported to other countries. Manufacturing is the fifth largest industry in America with an average yearly wage of $61,127. Click on the link above to learn more about manufacturing and the industry’s important contribution to the U.S. economy. |
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| Manufacturing Industries for Building and Furnishing a Home Industries that manufacture all the materials you need to build and furnish a home — from windows and doors to kitchen appliances — employ thousands and generate billions of dollars in revenue in the U.S. Click on the link above to see an interactive visualization showing the value of and employment for select manufacturing industries responsible for materials that go into a home. |
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| Missouri Economic and Workforce Report 2021 The 2021 Missouri Economic and Workforce Report gives a broad overview of Missouri’s economy in the last year, tracking a selection of meaningful indicators. At the time of publishing this report, Missouri’s economy is in recovery from the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as are the U.S. and world economies. See the snapshot of Missouri’s economy and a profile of each of the 10 regions in this annual report. |