County UI Dropped In January

The Missouri Department of Labor said unemployment in Crawford County dropped slightly in January.

The rate stood at 5.8% with 263 new claims as the new year began.

That was down from 6% in December. Two hundred initial claims were filed that month.

The unemployment rate is still 2% higher than it was in October 2020 — the lowest point of the year.

It’s also a full point higher than it was as 2020 began — 4.7%.

Crawford County’s unemployment rate began to rise in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began taking its toll on the economy.

It rose to 9.5% in April as the county and state entered into a shelter-in-place order and non-essential businesses were forced to close or find new ways to sell their products.

The rate began dropping in May and continued its fall through the rest of summer.

Unemployment began rising again in November, bumping to 4.1% and reaching 6% in December.

Adjacent Counties

In Franklin County, the unemployment rate fell from 5.6% to 5.1% in January.

The downside was 969 initial claims compared to 887 in December.

Gasconade County’s unemployment decreased from 5.1% to 4.7%.

Iron County unemployment fell from 7.4% to 7%.

Phelps County’s rate dropped from 5.1% to 4.6%.

Washington County saw just a slight decrease, going from 6.7% to 6.5%.

State

Missouri’s most recent unemployment rate was 4.2% in February.

There were 50,141 initial claims filed.