Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Unemployment Drops To 6.9 Percent

By JOHN MILLER

Nevada County's unemployment rate fell almost a full percentage point from July to August.

According to figures from the Arkansas Employment Security Division (ESD), the jobless numbers dropped from 7.7 percent to 6.9 percent for the reporting period.

With the exception of Lafayette County, the unemployment rate fell in counties surrounding Nevada. It rose from 7.0 to 7.5 percent in Lafayette County.

The jobless rate in Clark County was literally cut in half for the period. In July, the figures showed 7.4 percent of the Clark County work force needing a job. For August the numbers were at 3.7 percent.

In Columbia County, the unemployment rate fell from 9.5 percent to 7.4 percent, while Hempstead County's numbers went down from 9.1 to 7.9 percent.

Pike County saw its joblessness go from 5.6 percent to 4.7 percent, with Ouachita County getting out of the double-digit numbers again, going from 10.5 percent in July to August's figures of 9.4 percent.

Checking the rankings based on unemployment figures, Clark County is seventh with its 3.7 percent rate, while Pike County is in 20th position.

Nevada County ranks 47th, with Columbia County entering the foray in 52nd. Lafayette County's ranking is 54th, while Hempstead County shows up in 58th place. Ouachita County has the lowest ranking of area counties as it is in the 68th spot.

There are two counties with unemployment rates below 3.0 percent. They are Montgomery, 2.4 percent, and Scott, 2.6 percent.

Nine counties have jobless figures from 3.0 to 3.9 percent, with a total of 15 counties showing up in the tally in the 4.0 to 4.9 percent bracket.

The 5.0 to 5.9 percent division contains an even dozen counties, while there are 10 counties with jobless rates from 6.0 to 6.9 percent.

Another 10 counties come into the bracket with numbers in the 7.0 to 7.9 percent region, as seven counties have figures in the 8.0 to 8.9 percent category.

Four counties show jobless rates from 9.0 to 9.9 percent, with four having figures from 10.0 to 10.9 percent. Lee County is the lone county in the 11.0 to 11.9 percent slot, while Searcy County, boasting the highest unemployment rate in the state, comes in at 12.6 percent.

Overall, there are six counties with double-digit unemployment problems.

However, Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent from 5.5 to 5.4 percent for the period. The national jobless rate rose 0.1 percent to 4.9 percent.

The unemployment figures fell more than two percentage points in Clark, Columbia, Conway and Independence counties. This, according to the ESD, is because of the return of workers to manufacturing plants having vacation shutdowns in July.

Checking the state's five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA still has the lowest jobless rate at 3.3 percent, while the Pine Bluff MSA continues to have the highest at 8.4 percent.

Then comes the Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA at 4.2 percent, with the Jonesboro MSA third at 4.4 percent. The Fort Smith MSA figures were 5.1 percent.