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Springfield unemployment rate spikes in December

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The Springfield metropolitan statistical area's unemployment rate spiked in December, mirroring trends seen statewide.

The five-county Springfield MSA's jobless rate in December was 4.9%, an increase from 3.3% in November, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Comparatively, Missouri's 5.8% unemployment rate in December was an increase from 4% in November.

Prior to an unemployment rate increase in November, the Springfield MSA's rate dropped every month since a peak of 9.2% in April 2020, according to Springfield Business Journal research.

All eight of Missouri's MSAs posted increases in December, according to the release.

The MSAs and their December unemployment rates are:
• Columbia, 4.2%, up from 2.8% in November;
• Jefferson City, 4.4%, up from 2.9%;
• Kansas City, 4.9%, up from 4.4%;
• Springfield 4.9%, up from 3.3%;
• St. Joseph, 4.9%, up from 3.3%;
• Joplin, 5.2%, up from 3.7%;
• Cape Girardeau, 5.3%, up from 3.7%; and
• St. Louis, 5.9%, up from 4.5%.

Nationally, compared with the same month a year earlier, December unemployment rates were higher in 379 of the 389 metro areas measured by the BLS, according to the release. They were lower in seven and unchanged in three.

The Springfield MSA – comprising Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties – had a 3.1% unemployment rate in December 2019.

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