Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jobless Rate 2.9%

Economic news remains good in Clark County, as the unemployment figures show only 2.9 percent of the residents without jobs.

These figures, from the Arkansas Employment Security Division, also show surrounding counties jobless rates for the month of February.

Columbia County has seen a decline in its number of jobless as the figures fell from 6.1 percent in January to 5.9 percent in February.

Dallas County, on the other hand, rose from 8.1 percent to 9.3 percent during the month.

Hot Spring County saw a slight drop from 5.1 to 4.9 percent, while Montgomery County's rate fell from 6.1 percent to 5.4 percent. In Nevada County the rate dropped from 7.1 to 6.6 percent, but these figures were tallied before Prescott Manufacturing closed recently.

Ouachita County went from 10.1 to 9.5 percent, while Pike County's figures barely changed, going from 5.6 to 5.5 percent.

Taking a look at where the counties ranked, from lowest unemployment to the highest rating in the area, Clark County was third at 2.9 percent.

Hot Spring County followed in 21st, while Montgomery County ranked 26th. Pike County was in 27th, with Nevada 41st, Dallas 61st and Ouachita 63rd.

Once again, Washington County had the lowest unemployment rating in the state at 2.5 percent. Randolph County was at the other extreme at 15.1 percent.

Three counties, Washington, Saline and Clark, recorded jobless rates below 3 percent. Six counties turned in figures between 3.0 and 3.9 percent.

Another 13 fell between 4.0 and 4.9 percent, with 11 in the 5.0 to 5.9 range. Thirteen more were in the 6.0 to 6.6 category, while the 7.0 to 7.9 bracket had nine counties in it. There were three counties with jobless figures from 8.0 to 8.9 percent, and six in the 9.0 to 9.9 division.

Looking at those counties with double-digit unemployment, there were six with figures from 10.0 to 10.9, three from 1.0 to 11.9, one with 13.4 percent unemployment and Randolph County bringing up the rear in 75th.

The state's seasonably adjusted jobless numbers fell from 5.0 percent in January to 4.8 percent in February.

Unemployment rates in all four of the state's Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) fell from January to February.

Arkansas' figures were below those of the nation as the U.S. jobless numbers show 5.5 percent of the work force to be unemployed.