State’s joblessness rate holds at 3.6%

Arkansas’ unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% in December, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday.

The state’s joblessness rate continues to run slightly higher than the national average but remains below the state’s rate a year ago, seasonally adjusted data shows.

Michael Pakko, chief economist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said the report was “pretty positive” with “no big surprises.”

“It’s been below 4% for 3½ years and shows no signs of moving now,” he said of the state’s unemployment rate. More importantly, Pakko said, labor force and payroll figures have grown significantly in Arkansas.

From November to December, the civilian labor force grew to 1,368,565, an increase of 2,697 people, data shows. Meanwhile, there were 48,776 unemployed people in the state last month, an increase of 214 from November,

and 922 fewer than a year ago.

On a month-to-month basis, nonfarm payroll jobs grew to 1,292,000, an increase of 1,000 jobs, according to nonadjusted data. Most of that growth, 2,000 jobs, happened in the health care and social assistance sector, followed by 1,300 manufacturing jobs.

These were offset mostly by 1,800 seasonal job losses in the construction sector, as well as 1,400 job losses in leisure and hospitality and 1,300 in food services.

Friday’s numbers also show that Arkansas has surpassed neighboring Oklahoma in at least one employ

ment statistic, said Greg Kaza, executive director of the Arkansas Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Little Rock.

Citing seasonally adjusted data, Kaza said that nonfarm payroll jobs have grown in Arkansas by 10.9%, or 126,800 jobs, since the start of one of the country’s longest economic expansions in 2009, compared with growth in Oklahoma of 8%, or 125,100 jobs. At this rate, Arkansas is third behind Texas, 25.8%, and Tennessee, 20.4%.

The U.S. unemployment rate in December, 3.5%, was unchanged from November, mirroring the state, but lower compared with December 2018, when it was 3.9%

According to seasonally adjusted data, nonfarm payroll employment increased in only three states in December: Texas, Washington and Arkansas, the last of which posted the largest percent change. There were 1,287,700 jobs in Arkansas last month, a 5,400 increase from November and growth of 0.4%.

On an annual basis, data shows the civilian labor force grew by 15,474 in Arkansas. The state reported a joblessness rate of 3.7% a year ago, when there were 1,353,091 in the labor force.

From December 2018 to December 2019, the state’s nonfarm payroll jobs jumped by 18,700, with growth in eight major industry sectors. Five of them added more than 2,000 jobs, non-adjusted data shows.

Most of the growth came in the educational and health services sector, 6,000 jobs, followed by professional and business services, 5,000, and trade, transportation and utilities, 2,900. The construction and leisure and hospitality sectors reported annual gains well over 2,000 jobs.

The largest decline in the report came from the local government subsector, a loss of 800 jobs.

Pakko said that category covers a wide range of jobs, including public school teachers, the likely culprit.