Springfield metro area unemployment improves

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area’s July unemployment rate was 3.3 percent, down from 3.4 percent in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The civilian labor force in the MSA comprising Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties rose 1.7 percent to 233,721 in July compared with June, according to a news release.

Missouri’s metro areas, in order of July unemployment rates, are:
    •    Columbia, 2.9 percent, flat from June;
    •    Springfield, 3.3 percent, down from 3.4 percent;
    •    Jefferson City, 3.6 percent, up from 3.5 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 3.7 percent, flat;
    •    Joplin, 3.8 percent, down from 3.9 percent;
    •    St. Louis, 4 percent, flat;
    •    Cape Girardeau, 4.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent; and
    •    Kansas City, 4.3 percent, up from 3.8 percent.

The Show-Me State’s July unemployment rate was 4 percent, an increase from 3.9 percent in June. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same month a year earlier, jobless rates in July were lower in 340 of the 388 metro areas measured by the BLS, higher in 39 and unchanged in nine, according to the release.