Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Unemployment Still Low

Once again, Clark County is among the lowest in terms of its unemployment rate.

According to information from the Arkansas Employment Security Division, the jobless numbers for the county in November were up slightly from October's 2.6 percent at 2.8 percent.

For the most part, the numbers for surrounding counties were up as well.

Dallas County was one proving to be an exception as its jobless figures dropped from 4.8 percent in October to 4.1 percent in November.

Hot Spring County, however, saw a significant increase in the number of unemployed workers as its figures climbed from 4.9 to 5.7 percent during the recording period.

Montgomery County also had a major increase, going from 3.1 percent to 3.9 percent. But, as the county has an available work force of 3,875, and there are 150 out of work, the figures are deceiving.

In Nevada County, the jobless rate remained static at 5.9 percent.

Ouachita County, though, experienced a nice little drop in its unemployment, falling from 9.1 percent to 8.4 percent.

Pike County enjoyed the same fortune as Nevada County, with its numbers remaining unchanged at 4.0 percent.

Looking at the rankings of counties based on their unemployment rates, Clark County comes in 6th with its 2.8 percent. Scott County is first at 2.1 percent.

Montgomery County enters the table in 18th position, while Pike County tips the scales in 19th.

Dallas County ranks 22nd with its 4.1 percent figures, with Hot Spring County down on the list in 49th place.

Nevada County is even further down, rating 52nd out of Arkansas' 75 counties.

Ouachita County brings up the rear in surrounding counties, with its finish in 71st place.

Searcy County, with a 9.0 percent jobless rate, is ranked 75th. However, for the first time since November 1995, no counties in the state have unemployment figures of 10 percent or more.

Eight counties have jobless numbers ranging from 2.0 to 2.9 percent, while there are 10 counties housed in the 3.0 to 3.9 percent bracket.

A total of 20 counties comprise the 4.0 to 4.9 percent category, with another 16 making up the 5.0 to 5.9 percent region.

There are seven counties with jobless figures from 6.0 to 6.9 percent and another nine showing unemployment numbers from 7.0 to 7.9 percent.

Four counties fall in the 8.0 to 8.9 percent slot, with one in the 9.0 to 9.9 percent spot.

Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell for the fourth straight month. In November, it dropped 3/10 of a percent to 4.7 percent.

The national jobless rate also decreased 0.1 percent to 4.6 percent.

Unemployment rates, according to the ESD information, were lower in 33 counties, higher in 31 and unchanged in 11.

A quick check of the state's five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) once again shows the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA to have the lowest unemployment rate at 2.5 percent. This was a drop of 0.1 percent from October's 2.6 percent.

And, once again, the Pine Bluff MSA had the highest jobless rate of the five at 6.2 percent, even though its figures fell 0.5 percent from 6.7 percent.

The Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA and the Jonesboro MSA were knotted at 3.3 percent for November. This figure was unchanged for Jonesboro, but was a drop from 3.6 percent for Little Rock-North Little Rock.

The Fort Smith MSA figures fell from 5.2 percent in October to 4.8 percent in November.

OPEN HOUSE Gurdon residents gathered at the Ami Village Restaurant Sunday afternoon as the business held an open house to get acquainted with those in the city. Along with a full service restaurant, plans for the facility are to house a retirement center for ambulatory patients. Those on hand were amazed at the changes made to what was once the Gurdon hospital.