The unemployment rate in Missouri ticked down slightly last month, according to new data from the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
Missouri's rate last month was 8.8 percent, down from 8.9 percent inMay 2011, and a sharp decrease from June 2010, when 9.2 percent of the state's citizen's were out of work.
The national rate for June stood at 9.2 percent.
Overall, the number of people employed in Missouri dropped by 29,000. Kansas City lost 9,200 jobs and Joplin, which was devastated by a tornado on May 22, lost 9,400. Springfield saw the biggest employment gains,
The Department of Economic Development says a series of natural disasters, including flooding and tornadoes, led 15,338 Missouri households to apply for disaster assistance.
