Area jobless rate rises but ties for state’s 2nd lowest

The unemployment rate was up during August in most of Missouri, save one metropolitan statistical area, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Only Kansas City posted a decrease compared with July. The Springfield MSA and the six other metro areas increased, according to a news release.

Among the eight MSAs in Missouri, Springfield tied for the second-lowest unemployment rate, at 4.8 percent. The metros areas, ranked by August jobless rates:
    •    Columbia, 4.1 percent, up from 3.9 percent in July;
    •    Jefferson City, 4.8 percent, up from 4.5 percent;
    •    Springfield, 4.8 percent, up from 4.4 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 4.8 percent, up from 4.6 percent;
    •    Kansas City, 4.9 percent, down from 5.1 percent;
    •    St. Louis, 5.2 percent, up from 5 percent;
    •    Joplin, 5.3 percent, up from 5 percent; and
    •    Cape Girardeau, 5.7 percent, up from 5.5 percent.

Missouri’s August unemployment rate was 5.4 percent, above the U.S. rate of 5 percent. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with August 2015, last month’s unemployment rates were lower in 242 of 387 metro areas measured by the BLS, higher in 123 and unchanged in 22, according to the release.