Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Employment Figures Up During July

July was not a good month for employment figures in Nevada County, as the jobless rate rose from June's 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent in July, according to figures released from the Arkansas Employment Security Division.

With the exception of Pike County, which remained the same, and Lafayette County, which showed a decline of 0.1 percent from 7.5 in June to 7.4 in July, the unemployment numbers rose in surrounding counties.

Clark County went from 2.9 percent to 3.3 percent during July, while Columbia County's figures rose from 6.4 to 6.8 percent. Hempstead County's numbers rose a full percentage point from 6.4 to 7.4 percent, with Pike County remaining the same at 4.4 percent. Ouachita County's jobless rate went from 9.2 to 9.6 percent.

Ouachita County once again has the highest unemployment rate in the state, while Saline County remains atop the list with the lowest figures, at 2.4 percent. Checking the rankings, Clark County is sixth this month with its 3.3 percent; Pike County is 21st with its 4.4 percent; Nevada County rates 43rd, at 5.5 percent, while Columbia County is 58th at 6.8 percent. Hempstead County is tied with Lafayette County for 62nd at 7.4 percent, while Ouachita is 75th of the state's 75 counties.

There are three counties in the state with jobless rates below 3 percent. They are Saline, 2.4, Madison, 2.8, and Benton, 2.9. Eleven counties have unemployment figures between 3.0 and 3.9 percent, with 17 ranging in the 4.0 to 4.9 area. There are 16 counties falling in the 5.0 to 5.9 bracket, while the 6.0 to 6.9 region hosts an even dozen counties. Six counties have jobless figures from 7.0 to 7.9 percent, with five in the 8.0 to 8.9 range. Four counties turned in rates from 9.0 to 9.9 percent. However, no county in the state has double-digit unemployment.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, a full percentage point below the national average of 5.7 percent.

For the third consecutive month, all 75 counties in Arkansas had jobless numbers below 10 percent. Last year, there were three counties, Jackson, Mississippi and Ouachita, with double-digit unemployment problems.

The July employment figures in the state's four Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) showed the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA with the lowest jobless rate again, this time at 3 percent. Pine Bluff's MSA turned in the highest figures at 6.9 percent. The jobless numbers in the Little Rock-North Little Rock were 3.4 percent, while the Fort Smith MSA was 4.6 percent.