Missouri’s jobless numbers dropped two tenths of a point in October, a dip officials say supports a forecast that cited the state as one 11 across the nation demonstrating positive signs of emerging from the recession.

At 9.3 percent, Missouri’s seasonally adjusted…

Several readers have asked if there is a connection between last week’s U.S. Senate enactment of a bill that will extend unemployment benefits by 20 weeks and the February  decision by the Missouri General Assembly to turn down federal stimulus jobs funds.

The…

It was just a month ago that Illinois labor officials heaved a very public sigh of relief as the state, in August, saw an improvement in its unemployment rate for the first time in over two years.

As it turned out, the…

Illlinois’ top labor official Thursday expressed cautious optimism at the news that the state’s unemployment rate dropped by four-tenths of a point in August.

It marks the first time in 28 straight months the state has not seen an increase or zero…

The flattening of unemployment in Missouri — on Tuesday the state announced a jobless rate of 9.3 percent for the second consecutive month — has eluded workers on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.

And July, per the regular monthly reported released Thursday…

The word from Washington early Thursday morning — the number of initial claims for jobless benefits dropped by 47,000 in the week ending July 11 — may have given cautious reason for hope that the economy is finally starting to turn upward.

But…

Three days after Missourians learned unemployment in the Show-Me State jumped nearly a percentage point last month, the Illinois Department of Employment Security is out with the May jobless report for the Land of Lincoln.

And the news is even worse.

May unemployment in…

To hear everyone from President Obama on down tell it, the path out of the recession will be paved in green. Jobs, that is.

In Missouri, state officials have embraced the concept of displaced autoworkers — and the factories that supported…