Could this be a labor market tipping point?

The unemployment rate in Kansas is 2.3 percentage points (or 106,200 workers) above where it was in September a year ago.

The unemployment rate in Missouri is 3.2 percentage points (or 285,800 workers) higher than it was a year ago.

But new data out today from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics gives some cause for hope.

The Kansas jobless rate, according to preliminary numbers, dropped from 7.2 percent in August to 6.9 percent in September.

The Missouri jobless rate stayed put at 9.5 percent -- which is better than another increase.

The labor department's numbers say Kansas employers had 56,700 fewer jobs on payroll and Missouri establishments had 80,300 fewer in September 2009 than in September 2008.

Clearly, there's considerable room for improvement in job market health. But if the numbers continue to improve in October -- or at least not worsen -- we could find evidence that the job market finally hit bottom in our two states.

You can dig into the numbers at the BLS Web site.