Springfield MSA's unemployment rate ticks up in February

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area recorded an unemployment rate uptick in February.

The Springfield MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk and Webster counties – had a February jobless rate of 3.3%, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's up from 3.2% in January.

Four of the state's eight metro areas had month-over-month increases.

The state’s metro areas, by February unemployment rate, are:
• Columbia, 2.8%, down from 3%.
• Jefferson City, 3.2%, down from 3.3%.
• Springfield, 3.3%, up from 3.2%.
• Cape Girardeau, 3.4%, down from 3.5%.
• St. Joseph, 3.5%, down from 3.6%.
• Kansas City, 3.6%, up from 3.3%.
• Joplin, 3.7%, up from 3.6%.
• St. Louis, 4%, up from 3.9%.

Missouri's unemployment rate in February was 4%, up from 3.8% in January, according to the release. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with a year prior, February’s unemployment rates were higher in 247 of the 389 metro areas measured nationwide by the BLS, lower in 109 and unchanged in 33. The Springfield MSA's February 2023 unemployment rate was 2.6%.