Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jobless Rate Falls To 5.4 Percent

August was a good month in Nevada County in the area of unemployment.

According to information from the Arkansas Employment Security Division (ESD), the jobless rate fell from 5.8 percent to 5.4 percent.

The same could not be said for those counties surrounding Nevada County.

In Clark County, the jobless figures rose, going from 3.7 percent to 3.9 percent from July to August.

Columbia County had no change in its unemployment numbers and remained at 6.1 percent, while Hempstead County's rate dropped from 5.9 to 5.3 percent.

Lafayette County also enjoyed a drop in unemployment as the figures fell from 7.1 percent in July to 6.4 percent in August.

In Ouachita County, the numbers remained unchanged at 8.8 percent, but Pike County caught a break as its figures plummeted from 5.9 percent to 4.5 percent.

A look at the county's ranking based on unemployment shows Clark County in 15th place with its 3.9 percent figure.

Next up is Pike County in 26th at 4.5 percent, while Hempstead County enters the tally at number 36 with a 5.3 percent figure.

Nevada County joins the parade in 38th place with a 5.4 percent jobless rate, while Columbia County is ranked 46th at 6.1 percent.

Lafayette County, with its 6.4 percent figure, enters in 49th, while Ouachita County is ranked 68th with an 8.8 percent rate.

The jobless number spectrum begins with 2.5 percent in Benton County, and ends in Jackson County with an 11.5 percent figure.

Overall, the unemployment rate in Arkansas rose from 4.7 percent in July to 4.8 percent in August as there were higher rates in 23 counties.

Nationally, the jobless figure was unchanged at 4.2 percent.

A total of five counties made up the 2.0 to 2.9 percent bracket, while there were 11 showing jobless numbers from 3.0 to 3.9 percent.

The 4.0 to 4.9 percent category housed 17 counties, while there were 11 within the confines of the 5.0 to 5.9 percent region.

There were 12 counties to be found in the 6.0 to 6.9 percent slot, while the 7.0 to 7.9 percent zone had six counties.

Six was the magic number for the 8.0 to 8.9 percent area, while four counties made up the 9.0 to 9.9 percent category.

There were two counties with jobless rates from 10.0 to 10.9 percent, and one with an unemployment figure in the 11.0 to 11.9 percent range.

Looking at Arkansas' five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) showed four to be below the 4.0 percent jobless level.

Once again, the Fayetteville-Rogers-Springdale MSA had the lowest figures, remaining steady at 2.8 percent for the recording period.

Next up, again, was the Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA with its 3.5 percent numbers, also unchanged from July.

In third place was the Fort Smith MSA with its 3.7 percent figure, down from 3.8 percent in July.

The Jonesboro MSA fell to fourth place as its jobless rate went from 3.8 percent to 3.9 percent for the period in question.

Last, once again, was the Pine Bluff MSA with a whopping 8.2 percent jobless figure, with a rise from 8.0 percent a month earlier.