The Southeast Missouri economy grew slowly during 2012’s third quarter. That’s according to a new report by Southeast Missouri State University’s Center for Economic and Business Research.
Employment dropped slightly, but so did unemployment. Southeast Missouri’s unemployment rate dropped by a tenth of a percent to 7.5%.
All of this gives a picture of an economy this is growing modestly, according to economist Bruce Domazlicky.
“Unemployment has stopped rising. It’s now kind of tending to coalesce around the 7- 7.5% figure,” Domazlicky said. “Employment has pretty much stabilized. So I think overall it’s a picture of an economy that’s doing OK. We’d like to see a growth a little bit faster, perhaps, but at least we’re kind of holding our own right now.”
Domazlicky says personal income is up slightly, as well as retail sales.
“I would describe it as one that’s good. It could be better. But obviously it’s doing the kinds of things we want it to do, [like] modest growth, bringing some jobs and bringing unemployment down a little bit,” Domazlicky said.
Perry County has the lowest unemployment rate in the region. The unemployment rate there dipped to 4.9%. Cape Girardeau’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.1%.
Reynolds County has the highest unemployment figures, at 10.9%.
The national unemployment rate is 7.9%.
Domazlicky says the two biggest threats facing economic growth are the European Debt Crisis and the looming fiscal cliff. On the bright side, he says state governments are recovering from the recession and won’t be a drag on the economy moving forward.