Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Unemployment Unchanged

Clark County's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.4 percent from June to July.

According to information from the Arkansas Employment Security Division (ESD), figures for surrounding counties were varied.

In Dallas County, the figures fell from 7.3 percent in June to 6.8 percent in July, while Hot Spring County enjoyed a decline, from 6.6 percent to 6.1 percent during the recording period.

Montgomery County, however, saw its jobless rate climb from 3.3 percent to 3.8 percent, with Nevada County's numbers remaining a constant 5.9 percent for the months in question.

In Ouachita County, the unemployment figures rose slightly from 9.4 to 9.5 percent. Pike county also had a 0.1 percent rise, from 3.8 to 3.9 percent.

Looking at the rankings based on unemployment, Clark County is seventh with its 3.4 percent, while Montgomery County enters the tally in 13th place.

Pike County, with its 3.9 percent numbers, is in 15th position, while Nevada County tips the scales at 39th.

Hot Spring County is ranked 43rd, with Dallas County coming in at 47th. Ouachita County is ranked 70th of the state's 75 counties.

Benton County has the lowest jobless rate in the state at 2.7 percent, while Logan County is at the other end of the spectrum with an 11.9 percent figure.

Benton is also the only county with a jobless figure in the 2.0 to 2.9 percent bracket.

There are 17 counties with unemployment numbers from 3.0 to 3.9 percent, and another 14 falling into the 4.0 to 4.9 percent bracket.

The 5.0 to 5.9 percent category houses eight counties, and the 6.0 to 6.9 percent slot has eight as well.

Eight is a popular number as this is how many counties are in the 7.0 to 7.9 percent region.

The number's popularity ends with the 8.0 to 8.9 percent group as it contains 11 counties. There are four counties with jobless numbers from 9.0 to 9.9 percent, while three have such figures from 10.0 to 10.0 percent. Logan County is the lone county with its unemployment rate in the 11.0 to 11.9 percent area.

A check of the state's five metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) shows, once again, the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA with the lowest jobless rate at 3.3 percent, up from June's 3.1 percent figure.

The Pine Bluff MSA again has the highest unemployment at 8.2 percent, unchanged from June.

Next on the list is the Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA with its 3.7 percent rate, down from 3.8 percent a month earlier.

Jonesboro is third with its 3.9 percent rate, also having fallen a tenth of a point from 4.0 percent in June.

Forth Smith's MSA remained unchanged at 4.6 percent for the recording period.

Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent in July, down from 4.8 percent a month earlier. This is the lowest the state's unemployment rate has been since June 1995, when it was also 4.7 percent.

Nationally, the jobless figures remained steady at 4.5 percent.