Fort Smith metro area jobless rate up to 7.5%

So much for the recent downward trend in unemployment in the Fort Smith area.

The unemployment rate for the Fort Smith metro area increased to 7.5% in May after three consecutive months of the rate declining or remaining flat, according to the preliminary numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rates for the previous six months were:
April 2009: 7.1%
May 2009: 7.3%
Feb. 2009: 7.7%
Jan. 2009: 7.7%
Dec. 2008: 6.1%
Nov. 2008: 5.1%

The May rate is 2.9% above the May 2008 unemployment rate of 4.6%. The number of unemployed in the Fort Smith metro area has risen from 6,445 in May 2008 to 10,424 in April 2009, a 61.7% increase.

Rusty Myers, economic development director for the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District (WAPDD), is not surprised to see the unemployment rate increase.

“As we’ve said before, we can expect Arkansas and Fort Smith to be pulled in whatever direction the national economy is going. We should expect that to continue. … Fort Smith is not an island,” Myers explained.

The Arkansas unemployment rate in May was 7%, up from 6.5% in April. The U.S. unemployment rate in May was 9.4%, up from 8.9% in April.

Myers said most reports suggest the national job market will get worse before it gets better.

“I’d be rather surprised if we didn’t reach that (8% unemployment rate in the metro area). I don’t think we’ve seen our highest unemployment rate, based on what I’m reading about the national economy.” Myers said.

The May numbers also show that regional manufacturing employment is in eight consecutive months of decline. According to the preliminary federal figures, manufacturing employment in the Fort Smith metro area has dipped 9.9% in the past 12 months. Regional manufacturing jobs totaled an estimated 22,700 in May, down from 25,200 in May 2008.

The annual average manufacturing employment in the Fort Smith area fell from 31,700 in 1999 to 25,000 in 2008, a decline of more than 21%.

ARKANSAS METRO AREAS
The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
May 2009: 5.5%
May 2008: 3.8%

Hot Springs
May 2009: 6.7%
May 2008: 4.9%

Jonesboro
May 2009: 6.4%
May 2008: 4.5%

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
May 2009: 5.9%
May 2008: 4.1%

Memphis-West Memphis
May 2009: 9.7%
May 2008: 6.4%

Pine Bluff
May 2009: 8.6%
May 2008: 6.5%

Texarkana
May 2009: 5.8%
May 2008: 4.3%

FORT SMITH METRO AREA HISTORY
Past annual average employment rates
2008: 4.8%
2007: 5.3%
2006: 4.9%
2005: 4.5%
2004: 5.2%
2003: 5.5%
2002: 5%
2001: 4.2%
2000: 3.7%