Springfield metro area's unemployment rate ticks down

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area had the only unemployment rate decrease in July among its peers statewide.

The jobless rate in the Springfield MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – dipped to 2.8% in July from 2.9% in June, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Missouri's metro areas, by July unemployment rate, are:
• Columbia, 2.8%, flat from June.
• Springfield, 2.8%, down from 2.9%.
• Jefferson City, 3%, up from 2.9%.
• Kansas City, 3.2%, up from 3.1%.
• St. Joseph, 3.2%, flat.
• Cape Girardeau, 3.3%, flat.
• Joplin, 3.4%, flat.
• St. Louis, 3.6%, up from 3.5%.

Missouri's July unemployment rate was 3.4%, up from 3.3% in June, according to the BLS. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with a year earlier, July unemployment rates were lower in 192 of the 389 MSAs nationwide measured by the BLS, higher in 176 and unchanged in 21. The Springfield metro area's July 2022 unemployment rate was 2.2%.