County Unemployment Rates Show Dramatic Improvement

While Arkansas’ state unemployment rate has dropped in the past year, the same can also be said for 70 of the state’s 75 counties.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the unemployment numbers by county earlier this week with numbers for all 75 counties available.

In the July 2015 report, only four counties – Lafayette, Logan, Mississippi and Scott – saw increases in the past year, while Desha remained the same at 8.7%.

Lafayette went up from 8.9 to 9.1%, Logan increased from 6.7 to 7.1%, Mississippi went up from 10.4 to 10.8% and Scott was up narrowly from 5.7 to 5.8%.

However, Mississippi County has seen its unemployment rate go from 11.5 to 10.8% from June 2014 to July 2015, the report noted.

Mississippi County had the highest unemployment rate in the state, at 10.8%, followed by Chicot County at 10.1%.

Washington County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state in July, with 4.1%.

Benton and Madison counties each had 4.4%, while Carroll had 4.5%.

Saline finished at 4.6% in July, with Lonoke County at 4.7% and Arkansas County at 4.9%.

Craighead County has seen its unemployment rate drop by nearly a full percentage point in the past year, finishing at 5% in July.

Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce president Mark Young said the county has been fortunate to see the numbers drop with new jobs being added and more people working.

A possible key to the drop could involve an increase in construction jobs keyed by an increase in building permits.

The city of Jonesboro had nearly $21 million in permits issued in July. Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin said $12.7 million in permits were issued in August, with 52% being commercial and 48% residential.

According to the report, the counties with the largest drops from July 2014 to July 2015 were:

· Bradley – from 9.3 to 7.1%.
· Dallas – from 10 to 8.2%.
· Drew – from 9.8 to 8.0%.
· Stone – from 8.6 to 6.9%.
· Phillips – from 10.4 to 8.8%.