Labor Department Says County Gained Nearly 13 A Day
By Eric Heisler
St. Charles County posted the second-highest job-growth rate in the nation over a recent one-year period, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The county gained 4,653 jobs - nearly 13 new jobs a day - between March 2002 and March 2003, said David Leezer, director of business development for the St. Charles County Economic Development Center.
The rise of 4.6 percent put St. Charles second in employment growth among the nation's largest 316 counties, according to the Labor Department report. Placer County in California, near Sacramento, ranked first with 4.9 percent job growth. Lee County in southwest Florida tied St. Charles at 4.6 percent. The report measured job growth in the 316 counties with at least 75,000 jobs.
"I think the significance of this is that we're fast-expanding and becoming an economic power," Leezer said Thursday.
St. Charles County had more than 105,000 jobs as of March, said Ji! m Rice, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Leezer attributed the increase in jobs to the addition of about 2,000 jobs at MasterCard in O'Fallon, Mo., and to several other smaller expansions, including new jobs at Boeing Co. in the city of St. Charles and at various companies in the Missouri Research Park.
"A lot of it is small and medium-sized companies adding jobs in St. Charles (County)," he said. Leezer emphasized that the increase cited in the report did not include any of the 5,000 jobs being added by CitiMortgage in O'Fallon.
Three other St. Louis-area counties and the city of St. Louis were included in the report. Of the 316 counties measured, St. Louis County ranked 187th, with the city of St. Louis at 296th. St. Clair County and Madison County ranked 100th and 256th, respectively.
The report was the first to include St. Charles County. Before, the report included only counties with at least 100,000 jobs.
Tops in jobs
St. Charles County ranked near the top nationally in job growth
between March 2002 and March 2003:
1. Placer County, Calif. 4.9%
2. St. Charles County 4.6%
2. Lee County, Fla. 4.6%
4. Rutherford County, Tenn. 4.5%
5. Pinellas County, Fla. 4.3%
Source: Labor Department Memo
