Springfield MSA unemployment rate moves to 4.3%

The unemployment rate in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area rose to 4.3 percent in November, compared to 3.9 percent in October.

The MSA - comprising Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk and Webster counties - improved its unemployment rate from 4.7 percent in November 2013, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.

All eight metro areas in Missouri measured by the BLS posted unemployment rate increases last month compared to October. The November unemployment rates across the state:

• Columbia, 3.5 percent;
• Jefferson City, 4.2 percent;
• St. Joseph, 4.2 percent;
• Springfield, 4.3 percent;
• Joplin, 4.4 percent;
• Cape Girardeau-Jackson, 4.8 percent;
• Kansas City, 5 percent; and
• St. Louis, 5.6 percent.

Last month, 341 of the 372 metro areas measured by the BLS nationwide experienced unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, while 27 areas were higher and four were flat, according to the release.

The BLS recorded the Missouri unemployment rate at 5.1 percent and the U.S. rate at 5.8 percent in November.[[In-content Ad]]