Springfield unemployment rate declines

In line with its peers in Missouri, the Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate dropped in April.

The Springfield MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – recorded a jobless rate of 2.1%, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release. That's a decrease from 2.4% in March.

Missouri's metro areas, by April unemployment rate, are:
• Columbia, 1.9%, down from 2.2% in March.
• Jefferson City, 2%, down from 2.2%.
• Springfield, 2.1%, down from 2.4%.
• Cape Girardeau, 2.3%, down from 2.5%.
• St. Joseph, 2.3%, down from 2.6%.
• Joplin, 2.4%, down from 2.6%.
• Kansas City, 2.6%, down from 2.8%.
• St. Louis, 2.7%, down from 2.8%.

Missouri's unemployment rate in April was 2.4%, down from 2.7% in March, according to the release. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with a year earlier, April unemployment rates were lower in 252 of the 389 MSAs measured by the BLS, higher in 103 and unchanged in 34. The Springfield metro area's April 2022 unemployment rate was 1.7%.