Missouri’s metro unemployment rates improve

All eight of Missouri’s metropolitan statistical areas, including Springfield, posted improvements in their October unemployment rates.

The Springfield metro area’s jobless rate dropped to 3.6 percent last month from 4.2 percent in September. The Queen City metro area ranked third among the state’s MSAs. By unemployment rate, the Missouri metro areas’ jobless rates were:
    •    Columbia, 2.7 percent;
    •    Jefferson City, 3.2 percent;
    •    Springfield, 3.6 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 3.8 percent;
    •    Joplin, 4 percent;
    •    Kansas City, 4.1 percent;
    •    St. Louis, 4.3 percent; and
    •    Cape Girardeau, 4.4 percent.

Missouri’s unemployment rate in October decreased to 4.6 percent from 4.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted.

Of the 387 metro areas in the country measured by the BLS, 231 had lower unemployment rates last month than in October 2015, 127 were higher and 29 were unchanged, according to the release.