By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – The Labor Department said Thursday that the U-S unemployment rate jumped by a tenth of a percentage point, to 5.7 percent.
But Commerce Secretary Don Evans brought a positive message about the nation's economy to the St. Louis-area.
At a factory in St. Peters, Evans credited the President's tax cuts for a rebound in the manufacturing sector.
"All the manufacturing indexes that are out there today, you can't find one that doesn't say the manufacturing sector of our economy is as strong as its been in years and years and years, and we expect that to continue because of the tax cuts," Evans said.
Evans visited Wainwright Industries in St. Peters.
Last week Evans chose company chairman Don Wainwright to lead the Commerce Department's new Manufacturing Council.
Wainwright Industries employs about 200 people and makes automobile and aircraft parts.