The monthly report on employment and unemployment by state for February showed stable conditions in Arkansas’ labor markets. For example, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%. By comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked up from 4.0% in January to 4.1% in February.
The Arkansas labor force expanded in February by 1,345, with an increases of 385 employed and 960 unemployed. Monthly labor force growth has been positive every month since July 2021. Employment growth has been consistently positive since the economy was emerging from the pandemic in 2020.
Over the past 12 months, the labor force has expanded by 22,264, with increases of 18,205 employed and 4,059 unemployed. The unemployment rate reflects the increase in the number of unemployed, having risen from 3.4% to 3.6% over the past year.
The labor force participation rate was unchanged for the month at 58.4—which was 0.4 percentage points higher than in February 2024. The U.S. participation rate has declined by 0.2 percentage points over the same 12-month period.
Payroll Employment
Nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged from January to February, although the January increase was revised down from +3,000 to +2,000 (seasonally adjusted data). Employment in Retail Trade and Nondurables Manufacturing showed increases, but the other service-providing sectors showed a preponderance of monthly declines, including Professional & Business Services, Leisure & Hospitality Services, and Other Services. Employment in Transportation and Utilities was also down.
Over the past year, payroll employment is up by 18,400 jobs—approximately 1.4%. The year-over-year figures show that February’s weakness in service-sector growth is not indicative of the trend. Over the past 12 months, service-providing sectors have accounted for 17,400 net new jobs, with the remaining 1,000 job-increase found in the goods-producing sectors.
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Seasonally adjusted data for Arkansas nonfarm payroll employment, reported in a format consistent with the monthly news release from the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, can be found here: Table-Seasonally Adjusted NFPE.