KANSAS CITY – The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped 1.3% from November to December, going to 5.8%, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center reported. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians hit 180,137 in December. The national jobless rate hit 6.7%. The Department of Labor placed the jobless rate for both Ray and Clay counties at 3.5% in November, but has yet to update that number for December. Ongoing COVID infections pose a threat of continued economic challenges, the information center reported. Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has stood either below or equal to the national rate for 69 consecutive months. “After record lows in 2018 and slow increases in 2019, the rate spiked beginning in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the center reported. “The rate peaked at 10.2% in April 2020 before decreasing slightly in May 2020, then moving strongly lower in...