Springfield unemployment rate improves

Springfield and Missouri’s seven other metropolitan statistical areas posted improved unemployment rates in March.

The five-county area making up the Queen City MSA had a March unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, down from 4.2 percent in February, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.

Missouri’s metro areas, in order of the March unemployment rates, are:
    •    Columbia, 2.7 percent, down from 3.3 percent in February;
    •    Jefferson City, 3.4 percent, down from 4.1 percent;
    •    Springfield, 3.6 percent, down from 4.2 percent;
    •    Joplin, 3.7 percent, down from 4.3 percent;
    •    St. Joseph, 3.9 percent, down from 4.6 percent;
    •    St. Louis, 4 percent, down from 4.6 percent;
    •    Cape Girardeau, 4.2 percent, down from 4.7 percent; and
    •    Kansas City, 4.2 percent, down from 4.4 percent.

The statewide unemployment rate moved to 4.2 percent in March from 4.8 percent in February. The BLS data is not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same month in 2016, 336 of the 388 metro areas measured by the BLS recorded lower unemployment rates in March, 38 were higher and 14 were unchanged, according to the release.