Job talk: Fuller picture of December unemployment

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 2, 2010 - The overall unemployment rate in the St. Louis area held at 9.8 percent in December, but many Illinois communities saw slight increases over November, while Missouri towns saw slight decreases, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In Alton, for example, unemployment rose from 12.2 percent in November to 12.5 percent in December, while University City saw its rate decrease from 9.5 to 9.3 percent. The unemployment rate for the metropolitan area for December was 2.2 percent higher than December 2008.

Nationally, local unemployment rates were higher in 371 of 372 metropolitan areas, and budget forecasts released Monday by the White House project little improvement through the end of the year.

President Barack Obama's $3.83 trillion budget request includes programs that the administration says will create jobs, but it forecasts a national unemployment rate at 9.8 percent at the end of 2010 -- a drop of just 0.2 percent from the current 10 percent. The administration predicts the national jobless rate will drop to 8.9 percent by the end of 2011 and to 7.9 percent by the end of 2012.

The jobless rates in both Missouri and Illinois rose by 0.2 percent in December - to 9.6 percent in Missouri and 11.1 percent in Illinois.

Below is a sampling of unemployment rates in the St. Louis region.

By the Numbers: St. Louis Area Jobless Rates (in Percents)

Source: U.S. Department of Labor