Springfield unemployment rate drops to 2020 low

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point this year.

The five-county area's October jobless rate was 3%, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's down from 3.4% in September.

The coronavirus pandemic's impact on the local unemployment rate was demonstrated by the 9.2% peak in April. The Springfield-area rate has dropped every month since.

In October, each of Missouri’s MSAs recorded lower unemployment rates:
• Jefferson City, 2.5%, down from 2.8% in September;
• Columbia, 2.6%, down from 2.9%;
• Springfield, 3%, down from 3.4%
• St. Joseph, 3.1%, down from 3.3%;
• Cape Girardeau, 3.4%, down from 3.9%;
• Joplin, 3.5%, down from 3.9%;
• St. Louis, 4.3%, down from 5.5%; and
• Kansas City, 4.5%, down from 5%.

Nationally, compared with the same month a year earlier, October unemployment rates were higher in 384 of the 389 metro areas measured by the BLS, according to the release. The Springfield MSA's October 2019 unemployment rate was 2.4%.