Trendsights Newsletter

Cost of Living Third Quarter 2023
Missouri had the sixth lowest cost of living in the United States for the third quarter of 2023. In general, the most expensive areas to live were Hawaii, Alaska, the Northeast, and the West Coast. The least expensive areas were the Midwest and Southern states. MERIC derives the cost of living index for each state by averaging the indices of participating cities and metropolitan areas in that state. Missouri’s cost of living index for the third quarter 2023 was 88.3.
State-to-State Migration
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released estimates of the number of people moving between the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and movement to the United States from abroad. Kansas and Illinois were the states where the largest number of Missouri residents moved from and moved to during the year. See data for all 50 states in this new release.
Missouri and Regional Economic Reports
The 2023 Missouri Economic and Workforce Report provides a broad overview of Missouri’s economy in the last year, tracking a selection of meaningful indicators. The 2023 report finds many economic indicators for the state have returned to or even exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Regionally, growth has varied across the state. Learn more about Missouri's statewide and regional economies in this year’s report.
Target Industry: Information Technology
The Information Technology industry includes sectors such as software publishers and data processing, as well as professional and technical services related to the industry, including computer system design, technical consulting, and research and development services. Information Technology represents 3.8 percent of total private sector employment in Missouri, employing 91,105 workers across 15,027 establishments in 2022.
Halloween Fun Facts
Celebrate Halloween with some spooky facts and figures. Total spending in the nation for Halloween is estimated to reach $12.2 billion, with the average person spending $108.24. Indulge in a Cherry Mash from Missouri’s oldest candy company in St. Joseph, or visit the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City for a ghost tour. Click on the link above to learn more scary facts about Halloween.
Target Industry: Manufacturing
The Manufacturing industry includes material and product producers and the industries that support them. As a target industry, manufacturing establishments are located in every county in Missouri. The industries with the most employment growth in Missouri in the last five years were Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing, Machinery Manufacturing, Chemical Manufacturing, and Food Manufacturing.
Manufacturing: Concentrated Missouri Industry
Industry concentration analysis using location quotients (LQ) helps identify the industries that are more specialized in the state. Overall, the Manufacturing sector in Missouri has an LQ of 1.18, indicating the industry is more concentrated in the state than in the U.S. At the three-digit NAICS industry level, Manufacturing represents six of the top 10 most concentrated industries in Missouri. Click on the link above to learn more about Missouri manufacturing industries.
September Online Job Postings
There were 59,640 new job postings in Missouri in September 2023, according to data from Lightcast™. This was lower than the 63,510 postings in August 2023. The St. Louis region had 1,650 Manufacturing industry job postings in September 2023, followed by Kansas City (860), Central (310), Southwest (160), and Northwest (140). Click on the link above to view more job postings for Missouri and its regions.
Fortune 500: Missouri Home to Eight Businesses
Eight Missouri-based companies are on the 2022 Fortune 500 list published in July 2023. Centene was the highest ranked Fortune 500 Company in Missouri. Most of Missouri’s Fortune 500 companies are based in the St. Louis area, with one in Springfield (O’Reilly Automotive). Missouri’s Fortune 500 companies employed approximately 19,400 individuals at their Missouri locations and paid over $2.3 billion in wages in 2022.
Manufacturing Occupation and Skill Needs
During 2022, there were more than 72,000 online job postings for the Manufacturing industry in Missouri. The occupations with the most postings were Computer Occupations, Software Developers, Managers, and Production Workers. Some of the top specialized skills requested in online job postings for Manufacturing included project management, budgeting, and quality assurance and control. Communication skills were found in 35 percent of total Manufacturing job postings.
Celebrating Manufacturing
The U.S. Census Bureau is celebrating the 12th anniversary of Manufacturing Day with a variety of information and statistics about this important industry. Launched by the Manufacturing Institute in 2011 as the first Friday in October and later expanded into Manufacturing Week, this period celebrates the history and contributions of manufacturing the economy.
Manufacturing in Missouri
Manufacturing is a major component of Missouri’s $389.93 billion economy, representing 12.4 percent ($48.35 billion) of the total gross state product. Manufacturing accounts for 11.6 percent of the state’s private sector employment, with 282,255 jobs across 7,636 establishments. The industry has added 16,392 jobs since 2017, growing 6.2 percent over five years. This is more than double the 2.8 percent national growth rate over the same period. Click on the link above to learn more about Missouri’s manufacturing industry.
Bioscience Labor Market Summary
There were more than 8,500 online job postings for the Biosciences industry from January 2022 to December 2022. The top occupation was Managers, All Other, making up 5.9 percent of total industry job postings for the time period. Some of the most frequently requested specialized skills include project management, budgeting, and customer service.
Target Industry: Biosciences
The Biosciences industry includes production, services, and research and development sectors. Biosciences represents 2 percent of total private sector employment in Missouri, employing 48,628 workers across 3,327 establishments in 2022. The average annual private wage in Biosciences in 2022 was $77,615. Click on the link above to learn more about the Bioscience industry in Missouri.
Job Postings August 2022 to 2023 Comparison
n August 2023, there were 63,510 online job postings, which was lower than the total job postings in August 2022. Health Care and Social Assistance had nearly twice as many job postings as any other industry.
Kansas City Real Time Labor Market Summary
The Kansas City Region is made up of five counties and is the state’s second-largest region for employment. There were 60,460 total job postings from April to June 2023, with 70 percent of the postings classified as full-time positions. This region accounts for 20 percent of the state’s employment. Health Care & Social Assistance and Retail Trade are the industries with the most employment in this region.
Business Index in Missouri Remains High
Missouri’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August was 59.5, increasing 6.9 points from July, indicating an expansionary economy, according to the monthly Mid-America Business Conditions survey conducted by Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. Missouri’s index has indicated expansion since May 2023. The Mid-America Region’s overall index was below grow neutral for the second month. Economists consider the index a key economic indicator. It measures such factors as new orders, production, supplier delivery times, backlogs, inventories, prices, employment, import orders and exports. Typically, a score greater than 50 indicates an expansionary economy, while a score below 50 forecasts a sluggish economy.
Cost of Living Second Quarter 2023
Missouri had the seventh lowest cost of living in the United States for the second quarter of 2023. In general, the most expensive areas to live were Hawaii, Alaska, the Northeast, and the West Coast. The least expensive areas were Midwest and Southern states. MERIC derives the cost of living index for each state by averaging the indices of participating cities and metropolitan areas in that state. Missouri’s cost of living index for the second quarter 2023 was 89.9, which is relative to the national average of 100.
Concentrated Industries in Missouri
Missouri has a diverse economy. Industry concentration analysis using location quotients (LQ) helps identify the industries that are more specialized in the state. Overall, the Manufacturing sector in Missouri has an LQ of 1.18, indicating the industry is more concentrated in the state than in the U.S. At the three-digit NAICS industry level, Manufacturing represents six of the top 10 most concentrated industries in Missouri. Click on the link above to learn more about Missouri Industries.
Real-Time Labor Market Summaries
issouri employers posted 217,080 job ads from April through June 2023, with 71 percent for full-time positions. Health Care and Social Assistance was the industry with the largest number of job postings, making up 20 percent of the total. The St. Louis Region had more than 75,000 job postings in the quarter, which was the most of any region. See summaries for the state and each region in these quarterly briefs.
Labor Day History
Observed the first Monday in September, Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being. See more about the history of Labor Day in this feature from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Missouri Labor Force
In Missouri, the civilian labor force totaled more than 3,125,000 in July 2023. The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the population that is either working or actively looking for work. Missouri’s labor force participation rate was 63.6 percent in July, which is one percentage point higher than the U.S. rate. Visit the Missouri Jobs Report for more information about the state and regional labor markets.
July Job Postings 2022 to 2023 Job Ad Comparison
In July 2023, there were 73,740 online job postings compared to 81,660 in July 2022. Despite the overall decline, job postings for Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses had large increases compared to last year. Relatedly, the online job postings for the Health Care and Social Assistance industry also had the largest increase over the year, with a year-over-year change of 26 percent.
Occupational Outlook: Technical Writers
Technical writers prepare instruction manuals, how-to guides, journal articles, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information more easily. Most technical writers work full time. Although technical writers work in a variety of industries, they are concentrated in the computer and management, scientific, and technical industries. Technical writers typically need a bachelor's degree to enter the occupation. In addition, knowledge of or experience with a technical subject, such as science or engineering, is beneficial. The median annual wage for technical writers in Missouri was $79,610 in 2021. Click on the link above to learn more about technical writers.