Springfield metro unemployment rate climbs in July

Consistent with its peers in Missouri, the Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate rose in July.

The MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – recorded a jobless rate in July of 2.3%, an increase from 1.9% in June , according to a news release. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data is not seasonally adjusted.

All eight of Missouri's MSAs had increases in July compared with June.

They are:
• Columbia, 2.3%, up from 1.8% in June;
• Springfield, 2.3%, up from 1.9%;
• Jefferson City, 2.4%, up from 1.9%;
• Cape Girardeau, 3%, up from 2.4%;
• Joplin, 2.7%, up from 2.2%;
• St. Joseph, 2.7%, up from 2.2%;
• Kansas City, 3.2%, up from 2.6%; and
• St. Louis, 3.2%, up from 2.8%.

Missouri's unemployment rate was 2.9% in July, up from 2.3% in June, according to the release.

Compared with the same month of 2021, July unemployment rates were lower in 383 of the 389 metro areas measured by the BLS, higher in five and unchanged in one. The Springfield MSA's July 2021 unemployment rate was 3.3%.