Arkansas Unemployment Rate Unchanged At 7.5%

Arkansas’ jobless rate remained unchanged from October to November at 7.5%.

The number is well above one year ago when the state unemployment rate stood at 7.2%. U.S. unemployment in November was 7.0%.

For the month, the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services reported 1,226,200 workers were employed in the state. That was a 4,400 boost from one month ago, but still 25,400 fewer employed than a year ago.

The number of unemployed workers stood at 99,100, a decline of 700 from the previous month. Arkansas has 2,600 more unemployed workers in November 2013 than it did last November.

“Although employment rose and unemployment declined, the change was not enough to bring down the unemployment rate,” said DWS communications director Becky Heflin.

In the separate nonfarm payroll report, employers saw a seasonal boost in employment of 1,600 workers during the month in the trade, transportation and utilities sector. Most of those gains occurred in retail trade related to the holiday shopping season.

In a year-over-year comparison, sector gainers and decliners broke down in the following categories:

Mining/Logging +200
Construction +2,500
Manufacturing -500
Trade/Transport/Utilities +3,900
Information -100
Financial +1,000
Professional/Business +5,900
Education/Health +3,400
Leisure/Hospitality +400
Government -1,000

You can access the DWS report here.