Sales tax collections in NEA continue unprecedented surge through June, unemployment ticks higher
by July 9, 2017 9:29 pm 343 views
Jonesboro’s sales tax receipt collections continued to grow at a record rate in June. The largest metro in Northeast Arkansas collected $1.393 million in city sales and use tax in June, a 5.13% ($68,021) increase from the same month in 2016, according to the city.
For the year, the city has collected $8.899 million in sales and use taxes, a 2.44% ($211,859) increase from 2016, when the city set its all-time sales tax receipt collections record. Jonesboro has had two months this year — February (1.35%) and April (2.48%) — in which its sales and use collections were less than the previous year.
Craighead County’s sales tax and use collections have outpaced the city’s. The county hauled in $1.556 million, a 5.8% ($82,454) increase from the previous June. For the year, Craighead has collected $9.972 million in sales and use taxes, a nearly 5% increase from the year before and a 15% increase from 2014.
Unemployment rates in the metro and county have been historically low in recent months, but did tick up slightly in May. Craighead County had an unemployment rate of 2.5% in April, its lowest mark in at least 20 years, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Labor statistics by Talk Business & Politics. It slightly rose in May to 2.8%. The most populous county in the region has flirted with unemployment numbers below 3% in the past, including October and November in 1999, but it never dipped this low. Jonesboro’s rate ticked up three-tenths of a point, to 2.8%.
Craighead County has 51,822 employed residents. There are 1,471 unemployed residents, meaning the county has a civilian workforce of 53,293. The raw number of unemployed residents has dropped almost 15% since January and the workforce has grown by almost 2,000 workers.
The Jonesboro metro has 36,431 workers, a 4.5% uptick since the start of the year. The number of unemployed rose 1.3% (1,064) in May from April, but the number of unemployed workers is still down about 2% since January.
Numbers released are not seasonally adjusted and are subject to revision. The rates do not factor those who are unemployed and haven’t sought a job within the last 30 days, meaning the actual percentage of the population not working might be higher.