Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Unemployment Rate Drops In State

Statewide the unemployment rate dropped from 4.2 percent to 4.1 percent in December.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this decline followed a half-point increase in the jobless figures between November and December.

The December labor force figures, provided by the BLS, show the number of unemployed in the state is 50,700, down 1,700 from November to December.

"Although total nonfarm employment is down slightly since November," Ed Rolle, director of the Arkansas Employment Security Division, said, "it is mainly the result of layoffs within the services sector, record employment levels were set in transportation and public utilities, trade and finance-insurance-real estate."

For the year 2000, under the ESD figures, nonfarm payroll employment in the state rose 2.2 percent, with all sectors but mining and manufacturing posting gains.

This translated into 25,100 more people going to work, though most of these people were employed in the services sector, with trade being second in growth.

Some areas of employment suffered losses between November and December. These included government, with 400 jobs lost; services, down 1,700 jobs; manufacturing lost 300 jobs; and mining also lost 100 jobs. Expected slowdowns and poor weather conditions saw a reduction of jobs in the construction area of 600.

The growth areas were trade, with 1,600 jobs added; transportation and public utilities, with 1,000 new jobs; and finance, insurance and real estate, with 200 jobs added.

For the year, though, only manufacturing showed a loss of jobs.

Services was the big winner adding 7,800 jobs during 2000, while trade saw 6,800 more people go to work.

The construction industry gained 4,000 jobs for the year, while government added 3,500 jobs.

Trucking firms hiring more drivers accounted for 2,200 jobs in the transportation and public utilities segment, while the job growth in the area of finance, insurance and real estate grew by 1,200.

All five of the state's Metropolitan Statistical Areas saw increases in unemployment from November to December.

The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA rose from 1.6 percent to 1.7 percent; while the Fort Smith MSA increased from 3.0 to 3.4 percent.

The Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA went from 2.8 percent to 3.0 percent; with the Jonesboro MSA increasing from 3.5 to 3.8 percent.

The Pine Bluff MSA rose from 6.0 percent in November to 6.3 percent in December.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 4.0 percent, unchanged from November to December. Since October 1999, the U.S. jobless rate has remained between 3.9 percent and 4.1 percent.