Wages are rising in Missouri and Kansas, but job growth is slowing, recently released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. Unemployment is also increasing in both states, although it remains at lower rates than the national average.
The new local data comes amid economic angst over job growth and unemployment at the national level. That may be why the bureau heavily emphasized wage gains in its data release summary Wednesday.
“Among the 369 largest counties, 357 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages,” it wrote. “In the first quarter of 2024, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,527, a 4.2-percent increase over (last) year.”…