Springfield metro area unemployment rate rises

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate rose in May after a large decrease in April.

The MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – had a jobless rate last month of 2.4%, an increase from 1.9% in April, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The April rate was down a full percentage point from the March level, according to past reporting.

All eight of Missouri's MSAs had increases in May compared with April.

They are:
• Columbia, 2.3%, up from 1.7%;
• Jefferson City, 2.3%, up from 1.9%;
• Springfield, 2.4%, up from 1.9%;
• St. Joseph, 2.4%, up from 2%;
• Joplin, 2.6%, up from 2.2%;
• Kansas City, 2.7%, up from 2.4%;
• Cape Girardeau, 2.8%, up from 2.2%; and
• St. Louis, 3.2%, up from 2.9%.

Missouri's unemployment rate in May was 2.8%, up from 2.4% in April, according to the release.

Compared with the same month of 2021, May unemployment rates were lower in 385 of the 389 metro areas measured by the BLS nationwide, higher in two and unchanged in two. The Springfield MSA's May 2021 unemployment rate was 3.6%.