Springfield MSA jobless rate falls to 6.3%

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area unemployment rate fell fourth-tenths of a point to 6.3 percent in August from 6.7 percent in July.

The August unemployment rate was down nearly two percentage points compared to the same month of 2011, when the jobless rate in the MSA was 8.1 percent, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released this morning.

The Springfield MSA - which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Dallas and Polk counties - posted the fifth-lowest unemployment rate among the eight metropolitan areas in Missouri.

Missouri metropolitan areas, ranked by unemployment rate:

1. Columbia, 5 percent
2. Jefferson City, 5.8 percent
3. St. Joseph, 5.9 percent
4. Joplin, 6.2 percent
5. Springfield, 6.3 percent
6. Cape Girardeau-Jackson, 6.7 percent
7. Kansas City, 7 percent
8. St. Louis, 7.8 percent

Of the 372 metropolitan areas in the U.S., 325 registered unemployment rate decreases in August compared to the year before. Jobless rates were higher in 40 metropolitan areas and unchanged in seven, according to the BLS report.

During August, Missouri's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 7.2 percent, and the national jobless rate was 8.1 percent, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.