Economy

According to the 2021 data from the US Census Bureau, between 2019 and 2021, the number of people primarily working from home tripled from 5.7% (roughly 9 million people) to 17.9% (27.6 million people).

Education Laws on Tap in Kansas

While food prices won’t rise as sharply in 2023, they could still increase about 8% over last year’s rates, according to forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Governor's office targeted existing Missouri trade partners Sweden and Germany with hopes of expanding their presence.

The National Drought Monitor estimates nearly 1.3 million Kansans reside in drought areas. Missouri, with double the population of it's neighbor to the west has just 36,000 living in dry areas.

According to a study by Pew Trusts, housing in rural areas, including low-income housing, is often spread out across greater distances than it is in urban regions. This increases the cost of building out the infrastructure needed to provide broadband access and means there are relatively few customers to subscribe to the service.

In a world of unlimited online meeting platforms, 143 employers and over 650 students attended a one-day in-person job fair at Pittsburg State University last week.

According to data from the Pittsburg Micropolitan Report published in May of 2022, unemployment in the area was stable at 3.6%, down from 5.5% in 2020. The highest unemployment rate for Pittsburg, KS, in 2021 was in the mining industry, which posted an unemployment rate of 11.2%.

A wide range of companies were represented at the career fair, including those targeting Pittsburg State School of Construction and School of Technology students.

The privately held Menards operates 351 locations in 15 states. Their closest locations to Joplin are Springfield and Wichita, KS. Home Depot, Lowes, Sutherland's, Ace Hardware, TH Rogers Lumber, and Walmart already operate several locations in the Joplin metro area.