Area unemployment rate continues to fall

The Fort Smith metro unemployment rate in September was 7%, marking the third consecutive month the Fort Smith metro unemployment rate has fallen from its June 2009 high of 7.8%.

The regional jobless rate is still considerably higher than the 4.5% unemployment rate of September 2008, according to information released Wednesday morning (Oct. 28) by the U.S. Department of Labor. Also, the number of unemployed in the Fort Smith area was 9,835 in September, up 57.3% over the 6,252 unemployed in September 2008.

The monthly Fort Smith metro unemployment rates for 2009 are:
September 2009: 7.1%
August 2009: 7.7%
June 2009: 7.8%
May 2009: 7.5%
April 2009: 7.1%
March 2009: 7.3%
Feb. 2009: 7.7%
Jan. 2009: 7.7%

Arkansas’ unemployment rate in September was unchanged from August at 7.1%, but was higher than the 5.2% in September 2008. The U.S. jobless rate in September was 9.8%, up from 9.7% in August and a big increase from the 6.2% in September 2008.

September saw no change in the number of Fort Smith area manufacturing jobs (22,600) compared to August. July had marked an end to nine consecutive months of manufacturing employment decline in the Fort Smith metro area. The region has lost 28% of its manufacturing jobs since the beginning of the decade.

Fort Smith metro job sectors seeing September gains in employment were education and health services (16,400 jobs, compared to 16,300 in August) and government (19,100 jobs, compared to 18,000 in August).

The Northwest Arkansas metro area saw its September unemployment rate fall to 5.3%, compared to 5.4% in August. The area’s September 2008 jobless rate was 3.7%

The Little Rock-North Little Rock metro area saw its September unemployment rate fall to 5.9%, compared to 6% in August. The area’s September 2008 jobless rate was 4.3%

FORT SMITH METRO AREA HISTORY
Past annual average unemployment 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%

ARKANSAS METRO AREAS
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
September 2009: 5.3%
August 2009: 6.4%
September 2008: 3.7%

Hot Springs
September 2009: 6.6%
August 2009: 6.4%
September 2008: 5.2%

Jonesboro
September 2009: 6.2%
August 2009: 6.4%
September 2008: 4.5%

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
September 2009: 5.9%
August 2009: 6%
September 2008: 4.3%

Memphis-West Memphis
September 2009: 9.9%
August 2009: 10.4%
September 2008: 6.9%

Pine Bluff
September 2009: 8.8%
August 2009: 9.1%
September 2008: 6.8%

Texarkana
September 2009: 6.8%
August 2009: 6.6%
September 2008: 4.8%