Unemployment rate holds steady in Springfield MSA

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area unemployment rate was flat at 4.6 percent in December compared to November.

However, the December rate dropped from the 5.4 percent rate recorded in the same month of 2012, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.

Comprising Greene, Christian, Webster, Dallas and Polk counties, the Springfield MSA recorded the second-lowest jobless rate in December among the eight metro areas in Missouri measured by the BLS. Missouri's MSA unemployment rates for December were:

• Columbia, 3.7 percent;
• Springfield, 4.6 percent;
• St. Joseph, 4.8 percent;
• Jefferson City, 4.9 percent;
• Joplin, 4.9 percent;
• Kansas City, 5.4 percent;
• Cape Girardeau-Jackson, 6.1 percent; and
• St. Louis, 6.6 percent.

Of the 372 metro areas measured by the BLS nationwide, 339 reported lower unemployment rates in December compared to a year earlier, 25 noted higher rates and eight were unchanged, according to the release.

During December, the national unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a point to 6.7 percent and the Missouri jobless rate fell two-tenths of a point to 5.9 percent, its lowest level since June 2008, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.