Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jobless Figures Increase Drastically

Nevada County's unemployment rate showed a significant rise from December to January.

The December 1995 numbers were 6.1 percent, rising to 6.7 percent in January. These figures are from the Arkansas Employment Security Division (ESD).

Part of the answer for this jump in unemployment may be as a result of the partial shutdown of the federal government in December and January.

According to the ESD, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has not completed its revision of employment and unemployment estimates for Arkansas, or any other state for the matter.

The figures shown are interim estimates and will be revised when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its findings. This should be later this month.

Jobless figures in surrounding counties, for the most part, were also higher. Clark County was the exception as its unemployment numbers dropped from 3.3 percent to 3.2 percent during the period.

Columbia County's figure changed from 5.9 percent to 6.0, while Hempstead County showed a 0.5 percent increase from 7.4 to 7.9 percent.

Lafayette County followed Clark County's example with falling numbers, but the change wasn't as significant as the numbers went from 7.4 percent to 7.2 percent.

Ouachita County, which has seen jobless numbers below 10 percent for four consecutive months, climbed two full percentage points from 7.5 percent in December to 9.5 percent in January.

Pike County also had a significant increase from 5.0 percent to 6.1 percent.

Checking where the counties rank according to their unemployment numbers shows Clark County fourth with 3.2 percent.

Benton, Washington and Saline counties were tied for the lowest unemployment rates in the state with 2.9 percent figures.

Columbia County came in ranked 31st, while Pike County was 32nd. Nevada County entered the foray at 43rd, while Lafayette County was 48th. Hempstead County ranks 56th, with Ouachita County 66th.

Randolph County has the worst unemployment problem in the state with a 15.9 percent jobless rate.

The January figures show five counties with jobless rates of 10 percent or more.

There were three counties with jobless rates from 2.0 to 2.9 percent. Another four came in with rates from 3.0 to 3.9 percent.

An even dozen counties had unemployment figures from 4.0 to 4.9 percent, while 11 counties tipped the scales at 5.0 to 5.9 percent. There were 17 counties showing jobless numbers from 6.0 to 6.9 percent.

Nine other counties came in with figures between 7.0 and 7.9 percent. Seven more showed unemployment figures between 8.0 and 8.9 percent, with seven in the 9.0 to 9.9 percent bracket. Three counties registered unemployment between 10.0 and 10.9 percent, while one was in the 11.0 to 11.9 range and one in the 15.0 to 15.9 area.

Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January, compared to the nation's rate at 5.8 percent.

An exam of the state's four Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) again shows the Fayetteville-Springdale- Rogers MSA the lowest at 2.9 percent. Pine Bluff's MSA, as usual, was the highest at 6.5 percent.

The jobless rate in the Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA was 3.6 percent, while the Fort Smith MSA was 5.6 percent.