This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 6, 2010 - Friday's employment news from the U.S. Department of Labor was sobering: Even though the nation's unemployment rate for July remained unchanged at 9.5 percent, the nation gained just 12,000 jobs overall for the month -- a drop in the economic recovery bucket.
According to the report, private employers added a net total of 71,000 jobs in July, but that was offset by government cuts at the local, state and federal levels, analysts said.
Economists say that 150,000 to 200,000 jobs must be created every month to reduce the national unemployment rate.
The U.S. economy has shed about 8 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, 73,500 jobs were lost in the St. Louis area between February 2008 and June 2010.
Local unemployment rates for June 2010 also reflected minimal growth in the St. Louis area market. Here, in percents, are jobless rates for some communities in the bi-state area, courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers in parenthesis are the rates from June 2009.
Missouri
| Chesterfield | 6.8 (6.9) |
| Hazelwood | 9.9 (10.1) |
| Kirkwood | 7.0 (7.5) |
| O’Fallon, Mo. | 7.2 (7.7) |
| St. Louis city | 12.2 (12.8) |
| University City | 8.7 (8.8) |
Illinois
| Alton | 12.6 (11.6) |
| Belleville | 11.4 (10.8) |
| East St. Louis | 17.5 (17.0) |
| Granite City | 12.0 (15.2) |
| O’Fallon, Ill. | 9.1 (8.1) |