Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County Unemployment Up

Unemployment in Clark County rose slightly from October to November, 1995.

According to figures released from the Employment Security Division, jobless numbers in the county rose from 2.9 percent in October to November's 3.3 percent.

With the exception of Ouachita County, all counties surrounding Clark saw their unemployment figures rise during the month. Ouachita County's rate declined.

In Dallas County, the numbers changed from October's 4.1 percent to 5.4 percent. Hot Spring County remained unchanged at 4.7 percent for both months.

Montgomery County's jobless figures went from 4.7 percent to 4.9 percent, while the rate in Nevada County went from 6.0 to 6.1 percent for the period in question.

Ouachita County saw its figures fall from 8.0 percent to 7.5 percent. On the other hand, Pike County's unemployment rate rose a full percentage point from 4.0 to 5.0 percent.

Looking at where the counties rank according to their jobless numbers, Clark County comes in at eighth, tied with Lonoke County.

Benton, Saline and Washington counties all have unemployment rates of 2.4 percent.

Hot Spring County is rated 30th of the state's 75 counties, while Montgomery County tips the scales at 35th. Pike County is 38th, with Dallas coming in at number 49. Nevada County's figures places it 56th, while Ouachita County jumped from 75th to 67th during the month.

Five counties in Arkansas have jobless rates below 3 percent. There are 11 counties with unemployment figures from 3.0 to 3.9 percent.

Another 21 counties come in between 4.0 and 4.9 percent, while 18 have numbers in the 5.0 to 5.9 bracket.

Eight counties have unemployment rates from 6.0 to 6.9 percent, with an additional eight in the 7.0 to 7.9 range. The remaining four counties come in between 8.0 to 8.9 percent.

Once again, no county in the state has double-digit unemployment.

Jackson and Phillips counties have the highest jobless rates at 8.3 percent.

Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in November, down from October's numbers of 4.9 percent.

Comparing November 1995 to its 1994 predecessor, jobless rates were down in 52 counties, while they rose in 16 counties and remained the same in seven.

Examining the state's four Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), figures show the Fayetteville-Rogers- Springdale MSA with the lowest numbers at 2.4 percent.

Once again, Pine Bluff MSA had the highest jobless rate at 5.3 percent.

The Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA unemployment rate was an even 3.0 percent, while Fort Smith's MSA rate was 4.6 percent.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was higher than in Arkansas. It's seasonally adjusted rate for Nov. 1995 was 5.6 percent.