Pasadena, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/27/2010 -- Missouri’s Department of Economic Development has said that the state suffered a net loss of 12,300 jobs. The data is for the months of August to September.

Missouri’s unemployment rate has remained at 9.3 percent in September, which is the same as the rate for August. Most of the job losses have been in the state’s metro areas, such as St. Louis (7,500 jobs) and Kansas City (1,800 jobs). The only major city to gain jobs was the Springfield metro area, where almost 1,400 jobs were created.

The hardest hits have been construction workers and people who were in retail jobs. Even people who were working in manufacturing industries are finding out that they need additional certifications such as “Six Sigma”, an efficiency raising management practice, to be hired back.

CEO A. Harrison Barnes of Hound believes that there are still thousands of job openings in Missouri, but employers are taking time to fill up those positions. “Right now, employers have the pick of the crop. They are looking for workers who can multitask, and this is true across all industries. And computer skills are absolutely essential no matter which industry you are in.”

Hound is a job search engine that has been able to find a total of almost 7,000 jobs in Missouri, posted on employer websites so far. The company expects more job postings in the next few days as the retail chains announce their plans for this holiday season.