Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining of Mildly Hopeful Economic Indicators

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Is it a bull, or a bear?

The Missouri Department of Economic Development is out with its latest jobs report.

The Bad News?

• Missouri lost 6,400 non-farm payroll jobs in February.
• About a quarter million Missourians were jobless last month.
• Our unemployment rate inched up from 8.1 in January to 8.3 in February.
• Our unemployment rate is above the national average.

But wait! There's a silver lining -- sort of...

The Mildly Good News?

• Sure, we lost 6,400 non-farm payroll jobs last month, but we were losing an average of 11,500 per month in November, December and January. So we're losing fewer jobs. Do I smell a rally?....Is it possible to smell a rally?
• Missouri's unemployment rate did see an uptick of two-tenths of a percentage point. But that uptick was "far less" than that of the previous month, the press release says.

The Moral of this Story?

• It could be worse...actually, it already has been worse.