Springfield unemployment rate drops

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate was down in November.

The metro area comprising Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties reported a 2.1% unemployment rate that month, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Springfield MSA's October unemployment rate was 2.4%.

All eight Missouri metro areas measured by the BLS reported unemployment rate decreases in November compared with October.

The MSAs are:
• Columbia, 1.9%, down from 2.2% in October;
• Jefferson City, 1.9%, down from 2.2%;
• Springfield, 2.1%, down from 2.4%;
• St. Joseph, 2.2%, down from 2.4%;
• Cape Girardeau, 2.3%, down from 2.7%;
• Joplin, 2.3%, down from 2.6%;
• Kansas City, 2.7%, down from 3%; and
• St. Louis, 2.9%, down from 3.2%.

Missouri's November unemployment rate was 2.6%, down from 2.8% in October, according to a BLS news release. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

Nationally, compared with the same month a year earlier, November unemployment rates were lower in all 389 metro areas measured by the BLS. The Springfield MSA's November 2020 unemployment rate was 3.4%.