Springfield metro unemployment rate rises

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area’s unemployment rate moved up to 3.6 percent in May from 3.2 percent in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The local MSA mirrored the rest of the state. All eight Show-Me State metro areas measured by the BLS posted increased jobless rates last month, according to a news release.

Missouri’s metro areas, ranked by May unemployment rates, are:
    •    Columbia, 2.9 percent, up from 2.5 percent in April;
    •    Jefferson City, 3.3 percent, up from 3.1 percent;
    •    Springfield, 3.6 percent, up from 3.2 percent;
    •    Joplin, 3.9 percent, up from 3.5 percent;
    •    Kansas City, 3.9 percent, up from 3.5 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 3.9 percent, up from 3.6 percent;
    •    St. Louis, 4 percent, up from 3.7 percent; and
    •    Cape Girardeau, 4.3 percent, up from 3.8 percent.

Missouri’s unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in May, up from 3.7 percent in April. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted, according to the release.

Compared with the same month a year earlier, May unemployment rates were lower in 298 of the 388 U.S. metro areas measured by the BLS, higher in 66 and unchanged in 24.

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