Springfield metro area unemployment rate jumps

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate rose month over month in June, mirroring similar increases statewide.

The jobless rate in the Springfield MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – was 2.9% during June, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release with the latest available data. That’s up from 2.6% in May.

All eight of Missouri's MSAs had month-over-month increases.

Missouri's metro areas, by June unemployment rate, are:
• Columbia, 2.8%, up from 2.5% in May.
• Jefferson City, 2.9%, up from 2.5%.
• Springfield, 2.9 %, up from 2.6 %.
• Kansas City, 3.1%, up from 2.8%.
• St. Joseph, 3.1%, up from 2.7%.
• Cape Girardeau, 3.3%, up from 2.8%.
• Joplin, 3.4%, up from 3%.
• St. Louis, 3.5%, up from 3%.

Missouri's unemployment rate in June was 3.3%, up from 2.9% in May, according to the release. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with a year earlier, June unemployment rates were lower in 222 of the 389 MSAs nationwide measured by the BLS, higher in 119 and unchanged in 48. The Springfield metro area's June 2022 unemployment rate was 1.9%.