Springfield metro area's unemployment rate dips in December

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate dipped during the last month of 2023.

The Springfield MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – had a December unemployment rate of 2.3%, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release. That compares with 2.5% in November.

The state’s metro areas, by December unemployment rate, are:
• Columbia, 2.1%, down from 2.3%.
• Jefferson City, 2.3%, down from 2.4%.
• Springfield, 2.3%, down from 2.5%.
• St. Joseph, 2.4%, down from 2.5%.
• Cape Girardeau, 2.5%, down from 2.7%.
• Kansas City, 2.5%, down from 2.6%.
• Joplin, 2.8%, down from 2.9%.
• St. Louis, 3%, flat.

Missouri's December unemployment rate was 2.8%, down from 2.9% in November, according to the release. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with a year earlier, December unemployment rates were higher in 230 of the 389 metro areas measured nationwide by the BLS, lower in 128 and unchanged in 31. The Springfield MSA's December 2022 unemployment rate was 1.9%.