Unemployment rate spikes
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Unemployment rate spikes

Date: March 11, 2009
By: Theo Keith
State Capitol Bureau

Intro: There are more Missourians out of work these days than there have been in the last 25 years, according to a report released Wednesday.

Theo Keith has more from Jefferson City. 

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OutCue: SOC

The numbers are staggering.

Actuality:  SEENEY1.WAV
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Description: Seeney: "Last year we had 63,119 for February 2008. A year later we had 114,269."

Keith: "So it's increased - in fact it's almost doubled, I guess?"

Seeney: "Yes it has."


That's state Labor Department spokesperson Wanda Seeney on the skyrocketing number of Missourians filing for unemployment benefits last month.

Seeney says the department isn't taking calls on Tuesdays and Thursdays anymore so it can process all the claims.

Missouri's unemployment rate has hit eight percent, up nearly one percent from December.

That spike is the biggest in 33 years.

From the State Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

Intro: The state's unemployment rate hits the highest level in a quarter-century, according to a report released Wednesday.

Theo Keith has more from the State Capitol. 

RunTime:0:41
OutCue: SOC

The state's jobless rate made the biggest one-month spike in the last 33 years.

State Labor Department spokesperson Wanda Seeney says about 115,000 Missourians filed for unemployment last month, doubling last February's total.

 
Actuality:  SEENEY.WAV
Run Time: 00:14
Description: "We've hired additional staff, we've reopened one of our claim centers in St. Louis, we have staff who have worked voluntarily overtime on a daily basis as well as on weekends, and they've been doing that since July of last year."

Seeney says if you're filing for unemployment benefits, don't call on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

The department needs those days to process all the claims they're getting.

Reporting from the State Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.