The unemployment rate in St. Louis stalled at 8.6 percent in December, according to data seasonally-adjusted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of monthly employment in 372 metropolitan areas, which doesn't initially account for seasonal work, placed the local jobless rate at 8.3 percent.
Overall, the bureau survey showed St. Louis nonfarm employers shedding 5,100 positions in December.
The region still gained a total of 2,500 jobs, an increase of two tenths of a percent, over the 12 months beginning in December, 2010.
Unemployment in Missouri currently stands at 8 percent while the Illinois jobless rate in December registered 9.8 percent. Both rates are seasonally-adjusted.
Nationally, the seasonally-adjusted jobless rate stands at 8.5 percent.
The ADP National Employment Report, an early barometer of employment trends, says employers nationally added 170,000 non farm jobs in January.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its survey of January employment Friday morning.
Steve Giegerich covers the manufacturing and employment for the Post-Dispatch. He blogs on STL JobsWatch. Follow him on Twitter @stevegiegerich and the Business section @postdispatchbiz.
