Arkansas jobless rate dips to 7.8% in January (updated)

Continued small increases in the number of employed in Arkansas helped push the preliminary January unemployment rate down to 7.8%, compared to 7.9% in December and 8% in January 2010.

The Oklahoma jobless rate was 6.6%, down from 6.8% in December, and lower than the 7.3% in January 2010. The U.S. rate during January was 9%.

Those with jobs in Arkansas in January was an estimated 1.255 million, up 1.04% compared to 1.242 million in January 2010. The number of unemployed in Arkansas during January is estimated at 106,895, down 0.25% compared to December, and down 0.56% compared to January 2010.

However, the Arkansas jobless rate in January marks the 23rd consecutive month above 7%.

The figures, released Thursday (Mar. 10) by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that Arkansas’ total nonfarm employment rolls added 1,200 jobs between December and January, settling at 1.168 million. The January figure is 16,900 jobs above the 1.151 million in January  2010, but 15,100 jobs below January 2009. The state’s nonfarm employment is down 41,600 jobs since the peak of 1.208 million in February 2008.

Employment in Arkansas’ manufacturing sector dropped to an estimated 158,300 jobs in January from 159,000 in December. The job level was also below the 158,500 in January 2010. The manufacturing sector in Arkansas has lost 77,700 jobs in the past 10 years (January 2001-January 2011), or 32.9% of sector employment.

SECTOR NOTES
• Construction and construction-related jobs fell to 46,800 in January compared to 47,300 in November. The estimate is also below the 48,900 in January 2010. The job count is 10,700 below the peak of 57,500 first reached in February 2006.

• Jobs in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector — the state’s largest sector — was estimated at 236,900 in January, up from 234,900 in December and up considerably over the 233,200 in January 2010. The sector is down 0.21% compared to December 2009.

• The Professional & Business services sector gained an estimated 300 jobs in January to settle at 121,000. The sector employed 115,100 in January 2010.

• The state’s tourism sector — Leisure & Hospitality jobs — fell to 101,900 jobs in December. The sector employed 103,800 in December, and 97,900 in January 2010.

• The government sector saw jobs fall to 215,900 in January, compared to 216,200 in December, but up from 215,400 in January 2010.

Updated info: Dr. Michael Pakko, economist with the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, notes that there were revisions to some of the 2009 and 2010 labor data.

Those revisions indicate that state unemployment actually topped 8% at one point last year. It also reveals that some sector gainers did not perform as well as expected, and some declining sectors did better than previously thought.

Noted Pakko:
• The previously-published data had shown sizable increases in construction and manufacturing employment in 2010. The revised data show a decline in construction jobs in 2010 and only a small increase in manufacturing employment.

• On the other side of the ledger, Trade, Transportation, & Utilities had been showing a net decline for 2010, but the revised data show a fairly strong gain for the year.  The revised data also show larger gains for Professional & Business Services and Leisure & Hospitality Services.

• Employment growth in Education & Health Services has evidently been weaker than the original data were suggesting; however, that sector has continued to show positive growth throughout the recession and recovery.

NATIONAL STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, 10 states recorded unemployment rate increases, 24 states registered rate decreases, and 16 states and the District of Columbia had no rate change.

Nevada continued to register the highest unemployment rate among the states, with 14.2% in January. The states with the next highest rates were California (12.4%) and Florida (11.9%).

North Dakota reported the lowest jobless rate, 3.8%, followed by Nebraska and South Dakota, 4.2% and 4.7%, respectively.