Arkansas’ year-over-year jobless rate rises to 3.6%; BLS revises data

An almost 6% rise in Arkansans without jobs helped push the state’s jobless rate higher in January compared with January 2024. Year-over-year net jobs rose 1.5%, with the state’s Education and Health Services sector posting the largest increase.

The state’s jobless rate in January was 3.6%, up from 3.4% in January 2024.

The number of employed in Arkansas during January was an estimated 1,368,748, up 19,791 jobs, or 1.5%, compared with January 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report posted Monday (March 17). The January numbers are preliminary and subject to revision.

Arkansas’ labor force, the number of people eligible to work, in January was 1,419,310, up 1.6% from the 1,396,858 in January 2024. The state’s labor force participation rate in January was 58.4%, up from 58% in January 2024.

Arkansans without jobs in January totaled 50,562, up 5.6% compared with the 47,901 in January 2024.

The biggest year-over-year sector gains were in Education and Health Services (8,700 more jobs), Professional and Business services (5,100 more jobs), and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (3,700 more jobs).

REVISIONS
January’s report included notes on key data revisions. Arkansas’ civilian labor force numbers have been revised back to January 1976.

Nationwide reporting changes also impact three of the eight metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in or connected to Arkansas. The Pine Bluff MSA – Cleveland, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties – no longer meets the population threshold for an MSA and the BLS will no longer report jobs data for the region.

The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA – Benton, Madison, and Washington counties in Arkansas and McDonald County in Missouri – will no longer include McDonald County. The Fort Smith MSA – Crawford and Sebastian counties in Arkansas and LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma – will no longer include LeFlore County. Jobs data for the Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith metro areas will be revised back to January 1990.

All other Arkansas MSAs will have jobs data revised back to April 2023. The BLS is expected to report U.S. metro data on Friday (March 21).

NATIONAL NUMBERS
Unemployment rates were higher in January in 1 state and stable in 49 states. Thirty-two states had jobless rate increases from a year earlier, 2 states had decreases, and 16 states had little change. The national jobless rate edged down over the month to 4% but was 0.3 percentage point higher than in January 2024.

South Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in January at 1.9%. Nevada had the highest rate at 5.8%, followed by California at 5.4%. In total,17 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4%, 5 states had higher rates, and 28 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 17 states and was essentially unchanged in 33 states. The largest job gains occurred in Texas (+187,700), New York (+166,500), and Florida (+139,000).

JOB SECTOR NUMBERS
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
January 2025: 271,300
January 2024: 267,600
October 2024 first marked an employment record for the sector with 271,300 jobs.

Education and Health Services
January 2025: 218,600
January 2024: 209,900
January marked an employment record for the sector.

Government
January 2025: 212,400
January 2024: 211,700
Sector employment hit a peak of 224,100 in May 2010.

Manufacturing
January 2025: 163,000
January 2024: 161,900
Manufacturing, once the state’s largest jobs sector, posted record employment of 247,600 in February 1995.

Professional and Business Services
January 2025: 163,600
January 2024: 158,500
January marked an employment record for the sector.

Leisure and Hospitality
January 2025: 130,400
January 2024: 128,100
December 2024 marked an employment record for the sector with 130,500 jobs.

Financial Activities
January 2025: 70,800
January 2024: 69,600
January marked an employment record for the sector.

Construction
January 2025: 66,200
January 2024: 65,400
November 2024 marked an employment record for the sector with 67,900 jobs.