Springfield metro unemployment rate ticks up

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area unemployment rate inched up a tenth of a point to 5.2 percent in June.

However, the rate was down from 5.4 percent in the same month of 2014, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.

Only two Missouri metropolitan areas were unchanged in June - Joplin and Kansas City - and the rest moved up compared to May. Missouri’s metro areas by unemployment rate:
    •    Columbia, 4.5 percent;
    •    Jefferson City, 5 percent;
    •    Joplin, 5.2 percent;
    •    Springfield, 5.2 percent;
    •    Kansas City, 5.3 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 5.4 percent;
    •    Cape Girardeau, 5.6 percent; and
    •    St. Louis, 5.6 percent.

According to the BLS, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the U.S. was 5.3 percent in June, while Missouri’s was 5.8 percent.

Of the 387 metro areas measured by the BLS, 351 reported lower unemployment rates in June than a year earlier, 28 were higher and eight were unchanged, according to the release.