The state of Missouri ranked in 16th place for the number of jobs it has regained since the pandemic hit in 2020, according to a new study.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 1st Quarter Economic report found that Missouri recovered 357,200 or 95% of jobs lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The nation is struggling but it happens to be that we are not hurting as much as other states,” said Karen Buschmann, vice president of communications and strategic initiatives at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Missouri opened up earlier than many states. I think that helped with our economy and we're in general a more resilient state. We have diversified industries. There were just a number of things at play that made us more resilient than other states.”
The study also found that industries rebounding faster than others statewide include construction, which has grown 7.5% above pre-pandemic levels, and trade, transportation, and utilities, which have all grown by 3.2%.
“We have some industries that are doing well, and we still have a way to go in others,” Buschmann told the St. Louis Record. “Professional services is one industry we'll be watching. It seems to be bouncing back slower than we'd like to see.”
The level of economic recovery is also better in some areas than others. For example, Columbia, Joplin, and Springfield are outpacing the national average in job recovery.
“Those areas opened up earlier than some other portions of the state,” Buschmann said. “We were excited to see that some of those cities are outpacing the national average. That’s good news for our state. Hopefully, we can get other areas of the state up to par as well.”
While Cape Girardeau, Jefferson City, Kansas City, St. Joseph, and St. Louis are lagging, the labor pool is shrinking, according to the data.
"We're trying to take advantage of those workers that we can bring back on board," Buschmann added. "There are a number of things that are causing the severe shortages that we're seeing around the country. There are lower birth rates, fewer immigrant workers, a high number of employees who took earlier retirement, and a lot of parents have not returned to the workplace because of childcare shortages."
The study further found that inflation and geopolitical turmoil are having an impact on Missouri’s economy.
"It's not a surprise that too many dollars chasing too few goods caused us to have inflation," said Ted Abernathy, managing partner of Economic Leadership LLC. "It's record-setting for the last 40 years and the Fed is going to do their best to try to raise rates a couple of times in the next few months to curb that but right now, it's the hottest topic in the economy. It's driving up employment costs and wages have jumped pretty dramatically."