Franklin County Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.4 Percent

Franklin County saw its unemployment rate tumble by 2.5 points in June, falling from 10.9 to 8.4 percent.

The numbers reflect what’s happening across the nation as businesses grapple with the fallout from COVID-19 shutdowns in the spring and a rising number of cases.

Franklin County’s rate was just 3.9 percent in February and 288 initial claims were made that month.

When COVID-19 became a full-blown pandemic and governments ordered non-essential businesses to shut down or limit their services, Franklin County’s unemployment rate rose to 4.7 percent in March. 

There were 3,670 claims made that month.

The bottom fell out in April as 5,083 claims were made and the rate rose to 10.7 percent.

Initial claims tailed off in May to 2,015, but the rate ticked up once again, settling in at 8.4 percent.

June saw 1,226 initial claims.

Adjacent Counties

Crawford County’s rate has dropped from 9.3 percent to 8.3 percent.

Gasconade County decreased from 9.7 percent to 8.2 percent.

Washington County had a decrease from 10.5 percent to 9.1 percent.

Jefferson County’s rate tumbled from 10.2 percent to 8.3 percent.

Warren County went from 10 percent to 7.4 percent.

St. Charles County dropped from 9.4 percent to 7.3 percent.

St. Louis County went from 10.3 percent to 8.9 percent.