A report Friday by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services shows Arkansas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point, from 5.6 percent in July to 5.4 percent in August.
The numbers, produced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, show Arkansas’ civilian labor force rose 1,400, a result of 3,900 more employed and 2,500 fewer unemployed Arkansans. The U.S. jobless rate declined two-tenths of a percentage point, down to 5.1 percent in August.
“The trends have been pretty positive, particularly in service sector jobs,” Michael Pakko, an economist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, told Arkansas Business. “We’ve seen recovery in some of the goods producing sections. I would expect the job growth trend we’ve been seeing to continue. Perhaps to slow a little bit, but nothing to indicate that it will stop.”
Arkansas’ unemployment rate is mirroring the national trend, and August marks the 21st month in a row that the state has added employment, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Operation Manager Susan Price in the ADWS news release.
Nonfarm payroll jobs in Arkansas increased 5,900 in August and employment rose in six industry sectors and declined in five.
Government added 2,800 jobs, educational and health services added 2,600 positions and employment in professional and business services increased by 1,000. Many of of the government jobs are due to classes beginning at public schools.
In manufacturing, jobs deceased by 1,000. According to Pakko, manufacturing has been one of the slower sectors overall and he called the growth in the industry “sluggish.”
Compared to August 2014, Arkansas’ nonfarm payroll employment is up by 25,300. Construction added 6,500 jobs, mostly in specialty trade contractors and jobs in leisure and hospitality rose 3,700.
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