Springfield MSA unemployment rate ticks up

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate increased for the first time since a peak amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figure was 3.2% in November, up from 3% in October, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Prior to the increase, the MSA's unemployment rate dropped every month since a peak of 9.2% in April 2020, according to Springfield Business Journal research.

Seven of the eight metro areas in Missouri posted unemployment rate increases in November, according to the release.

The MSAs and their November unemployment rates are:
• Columbia, 2.7%, up from 2.6% in October;
• Jefferson City, 2.8%, up from 2.5%;
• Springfield, 3.2%, up from 3%;
• St. Joseph, 3.2%, up from 3%;
• Joplin, 3.5%, up from 3.4%;
• Cape Girardeau, 3.6%, up from 3.4%;
• St. Louis, 4.3%, down from 4.4%; and
• Kansas City, 4.6%, up from 4.4%.

Missouri's unemployment rate in November was 3.9%, an increase from 3.8% in October, according to the release. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted.

Nationally, compared with the same month a year earlier, November unemployment rates were higher in 386 of the 389 metro areas measured by the BLS.

The Springfield MSA – comprising Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – had a 2.9% unemployment rate in November 2019, according to the release.