Springfield metro unemployment rate stumbles

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area’s unemployment rate faltered in August after an improvement in July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The August jobless rate for the five-county area was 3.6 percent, worse than the 3.3 percent rate in July and 3.4 percent rate in June, according to a news release. The Springfield MSA comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties.

Still, the Springfield metro area had the second-lowest unemployment rate among the eight MSAs in Missouri.

Missouri’s metro areas, in order of August unemployment rates, are:
    •    Columbia, 3 percent, up from 2.9 percent in July;
    •    Springfield, 3.6 percent, up from 3.3 percent;
    •    Jefferson City, 3.8 percent, up from 3.6 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 3.8 percent, up from 3.7 percent;
    •    Joplin, 3.9 percent, up from 3.8 percent;
    •    Cape Girardeau, 4.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent;
    •    St. Louis, 4.1 percent, up from 4 percent; and
    •    Kansas City, 4.4 percent, up from 4.3 percent.

In August, Missouri’s unemployment rate was 4.2 percent, an increase from 4 percent in July, according to the release. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same month in 2016, August unemployment rates were lower in 323 of the 388 metro areas across the country tracked by the BLS, higher in 55 and unchanged in 10.