Springfield metro area unemployment drops

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped five-tenths of a point to 4 percent in September compared to August, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The jobless rate in the five-county area - comprising Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk and Webster counties - also dropped from 4.7 percent in September 2014, according to a news release.

Springfield ranked fourth in September among the eight Missouri MSAs measured by the BLS. Those rates were:
    •    Columbia, 3.1 percent;
    •    Jefferson City, 3.8 percent;
    •    Joplin, 3.9 percent;
    •    Springfield, 4 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 4.2 percent;
    •    Cape Girardeau, 4.4 percent;
    •    Kansas City, 4.4 percent; and
    •    St. Louis, 4.6 percent.

Of the 387 metro areas in the U.S. measured by the BLS, 353 reported lower unemployment rates in September compared to a year earlier, 25 were higher and nine were unchanged, according to the release.

BLS data put the nonseasonally adjusted Missouri unemployment rate at 4.5 percent in September and the U.S. rate at 5.1 percent last month.