Jobless rate dips below 4.5

If the current trend in unemployment rates in Nodaway County continues, 2015 could be a good year.

Even a very good year.

After hovering around a 5 percent to 6 percent jobless rate for the majority of 2014, the local rate dipped to 4.3 percent during December, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

The 18-county northwest region average jobless rate was 4.4 percent at the end of the year.

The December total, which was the lowest for Nodaway County during 2014, reflected a .3 percent improvement over last November’s unemployment total of 4.6 percent, Nodaway County Economic Development director Josh McKim said Thursday.

“That rate is still higher than what is listed for the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, but that is to be expected with the plant closure,” McKim said, referencing the shuttering of the Energizer facility in Maryville a year ago.

The local battery manufacturer announced in early November of 2012 that it planned to close its Maryville facility. The plant basically ceased operations at the end of 2013, displacing approximately 300 employees.

That total was significantly below its peak employment level of some 800 full- and part-time employees in 2005.

McKim said the nationwide effort to facilitate the sale of the now-vacant plant on the eastern edge of Maryville continues, approximately 12 months into the process.

“It takes time to generate knowledge on sites like that one,” he said, noting that a two-to-three-year minimum time period could be expected before a sale.

“That location has a lot going for it, but it just takes time,” McKim said.

Andrew, Atchison and Holt counties each reported unemployment rates of 3.8 percent for December. Gentry and Worth counties were at 4 percent during that period.

McKim said the Nodaway County jobless statistics are impacted more by the presence of college students in Maryville than are other area counties.

“I know that sounds a little weird, but there is normally a drop in jobless levels when students are back in the community,” he said.

Then, rates tend to increase during the summer months when the students return home, even given the number of seasonal agricultural jobs, he said.

“That is especially true in a town like Maryville,” McKim said. “We tend to have more fairly significant fluctuations in Maryville than in communities where a college or university is not the significant player it is here.”