Economic Overview

Through the first nine months of 2007, non-farm payroll employment in the St. Louis metropolitan area has expanded at an average year-over-year pace of 1.3%.  September employment of 1,377,300 represents an increase of 16,000 jobs over September of 2006.  Employment gains in the local professional & business, education & health, and leisure & hospitality service sectors has offset employment declines in the manufacturing and information sectors. 

In September both  the number of employed people and the number of people in the labor force fell, so the unemployment rate fell from 5.5% in August to 5.2% in September.  The unemployment rate is 0.4% higher than it was in September of 2006. 

According to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, economic activity in the Fed's Eighth District, which includes the St. Louis MSA as well as portions of Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee, grew "moderately" during September and early October.  Although home sales in the district were "weak," commercial real estate markets were healthy.  Loan activity at small and mid-sized banks in the Eighth District increased by 2.1% since the August report, and retail sales were described as "strong." 

The results of the Autumn 2007 edition of the RCGA's St. Louis business climate survey suggest that the region's economy expanded during the Summer and will continue to expand over the next year, in spite of the recent volatility in financial markets.  56% of the 130 organizations that responded to the survey indicated that they plan to hire more workers over the next 12 months.  Click here for a summary of the survey results.