According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs data, Missouri employers added 27,500 jobs in the first quarter of 2012 – more than all of our neighboring states, the Missouri Department of Economic Development reported today.
 
Jobs data for our bordering states are as follows:
 

State	Jobs added/lost in first quarter (January to March)
Arkansas	4,800
Illinois	22,000
Iowa	9,900
Kansas	12,300
Kentucky	17,600
Missouri	27,500
Nebraska	-500
Oklahoma	14,800
Tennessee	17,800

                         
                   
Of the total number of new jobs, Missouri manufacturers have added 7,000 new jobs in the first quarter of 2012.
 
Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 7.4 in March. The state’s unemployment rate is currently at a 39-month low and now has fallen by 2.3 percent since peaking at 9.7 percent in August 2009.  In comparison, the U.S. rate for March 2012 was 8.2 percent.