Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Umemployment Down In County

While most surrounding counties showed increases in unemployment numbers, Clark County's went down.

In December, 1995, the Clark County jobless rate was 3.3 percent. It dropped in January to 3.2 percent.

This, however, was the exception instead of the rule.

The reason for the increases in most counties may be as a result of the partial federal government shutdown in December and January, according to a release from the Arkansas Employment Security Division (ESD).

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has not completed its revision of employment and unemployment estimates for Arkansas, or any other state.

The information in this report, according to the ESD, is interim estimates. These figures will be revised when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its findings later this month.

The unemployment rate in Dallas County soared from 5.4 percent in December to 7.5 percent in January.

Hot Spring County climbed from 4.5 to 5.1 percent, while Montgomery County showed a slight drop from 6.4 percent to 6.2 percent.

Nevada County's rate jumped from 6.1 to 6.7 percent for the reporting period, with Ouachita County's numbers rising from 7.5 percent to 9.5 percent. This is the fourth straight month Ouachita County's jobless rate has been below 10 percent.

Pike County's rate, on the other hand, went from 5.0 to 6.1 percent.

Benton, Saline and Washington counties report the lowest jobless rate in the state. All three counties have identical 2.9 percent figures.

However, Randolph County's rate continued to climb, reaching 15.9 percent.

Desha, St. Francis, Lee and Phillips counties all had rates of more than 10 percent.

Three of Arkansas' 75 counties had jobless rates of 2.0 to 2.9 percent. Four more fell in the 3.0 to 3.9 bracket.

There were 12 counties with jobless numbers of 4.0 to 4.9 percent. Another 11 counties showed unemployment rates from 5.0 to 5.9 percent.

Seventeen counties fell in the 6.0 to 6.9 percent range, with nine others in the 7.0 to 7.9 bracket. Seven more reported rates from 8.0 to 8.9 percent.

Seven was a popular number as this was the number of counties with unemployment rates of 9.0 to 9.9 percent. Three had rates of 10.0 to 10.9 percent, while one was in the 11.0 to 11.9 range and one in the 15.0 to 15.9 division.

However, Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January, as compared to the nation's jobless rate of 5.8 percent.

Rates in the state's four Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) again show the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA with the lowest jobless rate at 2.9 percent. And, as usual, Pine Bluff's MSA was the highest at 6.5 percent.

The Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA was 3.6 percent, with the Fort Smith MSA reporting in at 5.6 percent.