HANNIBAL, MO -- Missouri governor Jay Nixon says a recent bill that passed the legislature and was signed into law will help decrease the number of people unemployed in the State of Missouri.

Nixon made a swing through Northeast Missouri including a stop in Hannibal.

The jobs bill that is now law, will help small business with job creation and tax credits.

It will also provide reimbursements to small companies that create jobs within the state.

Nixon says a big part of the bill is the job re-training which will help people who are out of work find jobs that companies are advertising.

During his stop in Hannibal, Governor Nixon said, "Now is a very good time for folks who are laid off, to come to our economic development office, to come to our workforce investment board offices, and to look for opportunities where instead of collecting unemployment and staying at home, they can transition into the next generation jobs. So this part for the person who has been laid off. I think provides us with a much broader wider footprint on the job retraining."

Nixon says he hopes this jobs bill will help reduce the unemployment rate which is at a 25 year high in Missouri.