Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Unemployment Drops; Jobless Rante Now 4.6%

There was good news on the employment front for Nevada County in December for, as the jobless rate fell almost a full percentage point.

According to information from the Arkansas Employment Security Division, the unemployment rate for Nevada County dropped from 5.5 percent in November to 4.6 percent in December.

Some of the surrounding counties weren't as fortunate, while others remained unchanged.

Clark County was one of the lucky ones as its jobless figures fell from 2.7 to 2.5 percent for the recording period.

Columbia County's numbers rose slightly, from 4.5 to 4.6 percent.

In Hempstead County, the figures remained unchanged at 3.8 percent for November and December.

Lafayette County's unemployment rose a little, going from 5.1 to 5.2 percent, while Ouachita County's figures remained steady at 6.2 percent.

Pike County enjoyed a significant drop, falling from 5.5 percent to 4.6 percent, the same as Nevada County.

A look at where the counties ranked according to their jobless rate shows Clark County in fourth, while Hempstead County ranked 24th.

Columbia, Pike and Nevada Counties were tied in 38th, all having 4.6 percent figures.

Lafayette County entered the list in 48th place, while Ouachita County was 60th out of 75 counties.

Benton County, as has become ritual, had the lowest unemployment rate in the state with an almost non-existent 1.6 percent figure.

Bradley County was one of two counties in Arkansas with double-digit unemployment, with 11.1 percent of its populace needing work.

There were two counties with jobless rates from 1.0 to 1.9 percent, and eight with figures from 2.0 to 2.9 percent.

The 3.0 to 3.9 percent division held 17 counties, while there were 18 counties in the 4.0 to 4.9 percent category.

The 5.0 to 5.9 percent group held 10 counties, with another nine making up the 6.0 to 6.9 percent bracket.

Six counties could be found in the 7.0 to 7.9 percent realm, with one in the 8.0 to 8.9 percent slot.

There was also one county in the 9.0 to 9.9 percent section, and one each showing unemployment figures from 10.0 to 10.9 percent and 11.0 to 11.9 percent.

As is the norm, the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had the lowest unemployment, but it rose from 1.6 percent in November to 1.7 percent in December.

The Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA was next with a 2.9 percent jobless rate, though it, too, rose from 2.8 percent a month earlier.

The Fort Smith MSA was third of the five, with a 3.0 percent rate, unchanged from November.

The Jonesboro MSA was also unchanged from November to December, remaining 3.6 percent both months.

The Pine Bluff MSA had the highest jobless rate of all MSAs at 6.6 percent, and rose considerably from November's count of 6.0 percent.

Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rare fell by a tenth of a percent, from 4.2 to 4.1 percent during the reporting period.

Nationally, the jobless rate remained unchanged at 4.0 percent.