Springfield MSA jobless rate lands at 6.7%

The July Springfield metropolitan statistical area unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, down from the July 2011 jobless rate of 7.7 percent. Last month, the Springfield MSA was among 305 of the nation's 372 metropolitan areas to improve its employment situation year-to-year.

The area's July unemployment rate rose five-tenths of a point from the June jobless rate of 6.2 percent, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Springfield MSA - which comprises Greene, Christian, Webster, Dallas and Polk counties - had the fourth lowest jobless rate in July among the eight MSAs in Missouri, falling behind Columbia, at 5.7 percent, Jefferson City, 6.3 percent, and St. Joseph, 6.3 percent. The Springfield MSA tied with the Joplin MSA. Missouri's average unemployment rate - not seasonally adjusted - was 7.6 percent during the month.

The nonseasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 8.6 percent during July. Of the 372 metropolitan areas in the U.S., jobless rates were higher in 52 and unchanged in 15, according to the report.