Arkansas' August unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.9 percent, according to a report Tuesday by the state Department of Workforce Services.
The report said the state's civilian labor force declined by 1,520 jobs, the result of 1,787 fewer employed and 267 more employed Arkansans. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in August.
"The unemployment rate in Arkansas remained stable this month, as did the national unemployment rate," said Susan Price, the Bureau of Labor Statistics program operations manager. "While jobless rates in Arkansas and the U.S. were both at 5.1 percent in August 2015, Arkansas has declined at a faster pace. We are now one full percentage point lower than the national rate."
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Arkansas' unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in August 2015, with 1.33 million people in the civilian labor force. This year, that number has grown by more than 24,000 to 1.35 million.
This year's labor force number includes 53,170 unemployed Arkansans, down by more than 14,000 from last August. The number of employed Arkansans has risen to 1.3 million, up by more than 38,000 from August 2015.
The report said that since August 2015, nonfarm payrolls in Arkansas grew by 16,900, with eight industry sectors showing growth and three showing declines:
- Professional and business services increased by 7,600, the majority in administrative and support services, a subsector that includes employment agencies.
- Educational and health services added 6,400 jobs, mostly in health care and social assistance.
- Employment in trade, transportation and utilities rose by 3,400, with the most gains in retail trade.
- Leisure and hospitality increased by 1,600, with accommodation and food services accounting for a majority of the gains.
- Manufacturing decreased by 1,800, with losses in durable goods offsetting gains in nondurable goods.
- Mining and logging declined by 1,300 due to layoffs and closures.