Springfield metro area's unemployment rate falls below 3%

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate dropped below 3%, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The federal agency reported in a news release that the Springfield metro area's jobless rate was 2.7% in February, compared with 3.3% in January. The preliminary data is not seasonally adjusted.

Of the eight metro areas in Missouri, Kansas City's rate was the only one that rose in February.

The state's metro areas, by February unemployment rate, are:
• Columbia, 2.3%, down from 3% in January;
• Jefferson City, 2.7%, down from 3.2%;
• Springfield, 2.7%, down from 3.3%.
• Joplin, 2.9%, down from 3.4%;
• Cape Girardeau, 3%, down from 3.6%;
• St. Joseph, 3%, down from 3.4%;
• Kansas City, 3.7%, up from 3.4%; and
• St. Louis, 3.7%, down from 4.3%.

Missouri's February unemployment rate was 2.6%, a decrease from 3.4% in January, according to the release.

Nationally, compared with the same month a year earlier, February unemployment rates were lower in 388 of the 389 metro areas measured by the BLS and higher in one . The Springfield MSA's February 2021 unemployment rate was 4.2%.