Employment Increasing in St. Charles County

According to a report in the St. Louis Today Suburban Journals, Wentzville appears to be on the road to bouncing back from the recession, as business investment and employment are on the upward trend.  Studies show an increase in the number of St. Charles County citizens who are working compared to last year, although the job gains are not that significant.

City administrators state that $415 million have been invested into projects and companies in Wentzville and because of that 2,075 full-time positions have been produced.  A good portion of these roles will be hired for at a later date because of the $380 million development that has begun at the city’s General Motors assembly plant.

City marketing business and personnel believe the figures show confidence in the Wentzville area.

Mayor Nick Guccione stated that the first thing on his list for 2012 was to attract jobs.  He has done exactly that; adding 2,000 full-time to jobs to a city of 29,000 people.

GM’s investment is the biggest in the city.  The Sam’s Club which opened just a few days ago created 200 jobs.

The new Marriott Fairfield Inn will create 25 jobs.  An addition to Robert’s Marketing will mean 200 more jobs.  The Ross Dress for Less store will make 37 more.  The new Panda Express will create seven more jobs, while the Carpenter’s District Council will generate six positions.

Jobs are on the rise in nearby cities and overall in the county.  The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center indicated the county’s unemployment number was at 5.8 percent, which is a decrease from the 7 percent where it stood last September.  The County’s figure in September was smaller than St. Louis County (6.2 percent) and Jefferson County (6.4 percent).

The Economic Development Center of St. Charles County believes the county is holding fort in the 187,000 job range.

In the city of Wentzville, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center found that approximately 13,526 citizens had jobs in September.

Despite the fluctuation in the figures for 2012, Wentzville residents with jobs totaled to approximately 13,393 people last January.  Wentzville’s unemployment rate for September was estimated at 6 percent.

In St. Charles, 34,365 residents were had jobs in September, an increase from the 34,028 in the month of January.

In St. Peters, 28,626 residents held down jobs in September, in comparison to the 28,346 who were working in January.  O’Fallon is the biggest city in the county.  About 40,235 O’Fallon residents were working in September, a bump from the 40,050 employed in September of 2011. Despite the numbers not being too large in difference, residents are still taking the data as a sign of good things to come.