Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Area Jobless Rate Rises

Nevada County's unemployment rate rose from 6.1 percent in February to 6.6 percent in March, according to information from the Arkansas Employment Security Division.

With the exception of Ouachita and Pike counties, those counties surrounding Nevada County saw their unemployment figures fall. In Ouachita and Pike counties, there was no change in their jobless numbers.

In Clark County the numbers fell from 3.4 to 3.2 percent for the recording period, while Columbia County saw a significant decline, going from 6.8 percent to 5.9 percent.

The drop was less in Hempstead County, 5.9 percent to 5.7 percent, but more noticeable in Lafayette County, where the fall was from 9.6 percent in February to 8.8 percent in March.

Ouachita County's jobless rate remained at 8.5 percent, with Pike County also steady at 6.0 percent.

Checking where the counties rank based on these figures, Clark County enters the list in fifth place at 3.2 percent.

Hempstead County made the cut in 33rd place with a 5.7 percent rate, while Columbia County was 38th with its 5.9 percent figures.

Pike County was next in 41st, with its 6.0 percent numbers, while Nevada County entered the tally in 45th because of its 6.6 percent figure.

Ouachita County made the list at 58th with an 8.5 percent jobless figure, while Lafayette County came in at 62nd, with an 8.8 percent number.

Benton County had the lowest unemployment in the state with an almost nonexistent 2.4 percent rate, while Jackson County had the highest jobless rate with 12.5 percent of its available workforce unemployed.

Overall, 10 counties in Arkansas had jobless figures of 10 percent or higher.

Three counties fell in the 2.0 to 2.9 percent bracket, with eight counties having jobless rates between 3.0 to 3.9 percent.

The 4.0 to 4.9 percent category housed 12 counties, with 17 counties falling within the confines of the 5.0 to 5.9 percent region.

Nine counties were found in the 6.0 to 6.9 percent slot, with eight in the 7.0 to 7.9 percent division.

Five counties had jobless figures from 8.0 to 8.9 percent, with three showing 9.0 to 9.9 percent unemployment rates.

Four counties suffer from jobless rates of 10.0 to 10.9 percent, with three being found in the 11.0 to 11.9 percent group.

There were also three counties with jobless rates from 12.0 to 12.9 percent. They were Conway County, 12.0 percent, Mississippi County, 12.4 percent, and Jackson County, 12.5 percent.

Checking on the state's five Metropolitan Statistical Areas once again shows the Fayetteville-Rogers- Springdale MSA with the lowest jobless figures at 2.5 percent for March. This is unchanged from February.

The Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA and the Jonesboro MSA each had unemployment figures of 3.7 percent in March.

The February figures for Jonesboro were 3.9 percent, while those for Little Rock-North Little rock were 3.8 percent.

The Fort Smith MSA dropped from 4.2 to 4.1 percent, while the Pine Bluff MSA remained unchanged at 7.8 percent.

According to the ESD report, Arkansas' seasonally adjusted rate was 4.7 percent, up 3/10 of a percent from February's 4.4 percent.

Nationally, the figure also rose, going from 4.0 percent to 4.1 percent.