Updated
Updated · Arkansas Radio · Jul 23
Arkansas Jobless Rate Falls to 4.1% as Workforce and Employment Hit Record Highs
Updated
Updated · Arkansas Radio · Jul 23

Arkansas Jobless Rate Falls to 4.1% as Workforce and Employment Hit Record Highs

3 articles · Updated · Arkansas Radio · Jul 23

Summary

  • Arkansas cut its unemployment rate to 4.1% in June from 4.2% in May while both total employment and the civilian labor force reached record highs.
  • 2,830 more Arkansans were employed during the month and the labor force grew by 1,919, lifting the participation rate to 59.2% as more people entered the job market.
  • 5,800 nonfarm payroll jobs were lost from May, largely because schools closed for summer; government shed 5,900 jobs and private education and health services lost 3,000.
  • 10,000 more nonfarm jobs were on payrolls than a year earlier, led by leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation and utilities, and professional and business services.
  • Northwest Arkansas added 2.9% more nonfarm jobs than a year earlier, making the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers area the nation's third-fastest-growing metro by that measure.

Insights

Arkansas boasts record employment, so why are prime-age workers and real wages lagging behind the rest of the nation?
Can the Fayetteville metro's economic boom lift the entire state, or is it creating a deeper divide in Arkansas?