Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jobless Rate Remains At 3 Percent

BY JOHN MILLER

Clark County's unemployment rate remained steady from September to October at 3.0 percent.

According to information from the Arkansas Employment Security Division (ESD), jobless rates for surrounding counties were little changed.

Dallas County's figures remained motionless at 6.2 percent for the recording period, while Hot Spring County had a slight rise, from 5.4 to 5.6 percent.

In Montgomery County, the numbers fell from 3.7 to 3.1 percent, with Nevada County's jobless rate rising from 6.5 to 7.0 percent.

Ouachita County had a slight increase in its figures, rising from 9.3 to 9.4 percent, and Pike County's change went up from 4.0 to 4.5 percent.

These changes juggled the rankings around somewhat. Clark County is ranked seventh with its 3.0 percent figures, with Montgomery County nipping at its heels in 8th place.

Pike County enters the list in the number 28 position, while Hot Spring County is 10 back in 38th.

Dallas County is ranked 43rd, with Nevada entering the list in 56th place. Ouachita County is 70th of the state's 75 counties.

The list is headed by Benton County with its minuscule 2.3 percent jobless rate, with Woodruff County on the other end of the spectrum with 13.3 percent unemployment.

There are six counties with jobless figures from 2.0 to 2.9 percent, and another 17 with numbers from 3.0 to 3.9 percent.

The 4.0 to 4.9 percent bracket houses nine counties, with 10 counties being confined in the 5.0 to 5.9 percent division.

Some 13 counties have figures from 6.0 to 6.9 percent, while there are nine counties with jobless rates from 7.0 to 7.9 percent.

Five counties are afflicted with unemployment from 8.0 to 8.9 percent, and three have rates from 9.0 to 9.9 percent.

A total of three counties have double-digit unemployment, with one in the 10.0 to 10.9 percent slot, one with 12.0 to 12.9 percent, and one in the 13.0 to 13.9 bracket.

The state's five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) has the Fayetteville-Rogers-Springdale MSA with the lowest unemployment rate at 2.6 percent, down from 2.9 percent.

Next on the list is the Little Rock-North Little Rock and Jonesboro MSA's, both recording 3.3 percent rates. The September figure for the Little Rock MSA was 3.4 percent, while Jonesboro's numbers were at 3.7 percent.

The Fort Smith MSA's unemployment rate was unchanged for the period at 4.5 percent.

Bringing up the rear is the Pine Bluff MSA at 6.9 percent, though the jobless figures fell from 7.2 percent.

Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4 percent in October, up 0.4 percent from September's 5.0 percent.

The national rate was unchanged at 4.6 percent.