Springfield area leads state’s employment growth

Springfield’s growth rate of 3.9 percent compared to 3.4 percent in St. Joseph, 3.1 percent in Columbia, 3.3 percent in Joplin, 1.9 percent in Kansas City and 1.4 percent in St. Louis.

The Springfield MSA added 1,300 jobs during the month, 700 of which were in private industries and 600 were in state government. For the year, retail trade employment added 1,700 jobs, and health care and social assistance industries added 1,600 jobs on balance.

The unemployment rate in Springfield in February was 4.2 percent, up from 4 percent in January and down from 4.8 percent a year ago. Missouri’s overall unemployment rate for the month was 5.4 percent, and the U.S. rate was 5.1 percent.

Within the Springfield metropolitan area, Greene County had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.1 percent. Dallas County ranked the highest with 5.6 percent, while Christian County was 4.3 percent, Polk County was 4.4 percent and Webster County was 4.2 percent.