Springfield unemployment rate holds steady in March

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate held steady in March amid shifts in its peers across the state.

The Springfield MSA – which comprises Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk and Webster counties – had a jobless rate of 4% in March, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's flat from February.

The state's metro areas, by March unemployment rate, are as follows:
• Jefferson City, 3.5%, flat from February
• Columbia, 3.8%, up from 3.5%
• Cape Girardeau, 4%, up from 3.8%
• Springfield, 4%, flat
• St. Louis, 4.1%, down from 4.2%
• Joplin, 4.2%, up from 4.1%
• Kansas City, 4.2%, down from 4.3%
• St. Joseph, 4.3%, down from 4.4%

Missouri's March unemployment rate was 4.4%, which was flat from February, according to the release. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with a year prior, March's unemployment rates were higher in 279 of the 387 metro areas measured nationwide by the BLS, lower in 72 and unchanged in 36. The Springfield MSA's March 2024 unemployment rate was 3.6%.