Tagged: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics brings both positive and negative information to light about unemployment in the St. Louis Mo. - Ill. Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Some areas of industry gained jobs, while others lost, and, though the unemployment rate for the area in January 2011 was slightly higher than the national average, total employment in the area has gone up slightly over the past year.

The costs of goods and services in the St. Louis region rose 2.5 percent between the last six months of 2009 and the last six months of 2010 - more than double the national rate over that same time.

Though the Bureau of Labor Statistics data show electricity prices going up 13.1 percent and motor fuel going up 10.1 percent, bureau economist Jacqueline Michael Midkiff says they weren't the real drivers of the increase.