Hey St. Louis: You're getting jobs, buying cars and houses â€” and things are looking up

People in St. Louis are getting jobs, buying more cars and houses and borrowing to do it, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis says in its latest, fairly upbeat read on the region's economy ^[1].

The Fed's business contacts reported "improving labor market conditions and increased demand for labor" in a region spanning Southern Illinois, eastern Missouri and the Ozarks.

Job growth has "exceeded the national average in St. Louis and has been trending upward," the Fed said Wednesday in the "Burgundy Book," its quarterly snapshot of regional economic conditions.

In a separate report Wednesday, the government said the St. Louis metro area added 27,000 jobs in the year ended in August — a 2 percent increase. Jobs nationally were up 1.7 percent.

The St. Louis job count was virtually flat at 1.37 million between July and August, a figure not adjusted for normal seasonal changes.

The metro area unemployment rate ticked up to 4.9 percent in August from 4.6 percent in July. The rate, calculated from a separate survey, can rise even if the job count stays steady if more people start looking for work.

Manufacturing jobs dropped 3 percent over the year, but leisure and hospitality saw a near 7 percent increase. Professional and business services — a category including law, engineering and accounting firms as well as waste management — showed a 5 percent rise.

The Fed's regional report assembles statistics as well as reports from business people around the two states.

As jobs are added, people are buying homes and cars. The report noted "rapidly" rising home sales around St. Louis. Sales were up 7.4 percent as of mid-year. Home prices in the metro area were up 3.4 percent, according to the real estate data firm CoreLogic.

Auto dealers reported sales faster than expected. "Auto debt growth remained high in the zone, with real auto loan balances increasing at a faster rate than the U.S. average," the Fed said. "Multiple dealers reported a shift in demand toward high-end vehicles."

But the region's households are handling debt well. "Household financial conditions remained stable, as mortgage, credit card, and automotive loan delinquency rates remained lower in the zone than in the nation in the second quarter," the Fed reported.