The report on state-level employment and unemployment for June suggests a fairly stable labor market in Arkansas. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7% while measures of household and payroll employment both continued to show modest rates of expansion. The national unemployment rate had previously been reported to have declined 0.1% to 4.1% in June.
The gradual uptrend in Arkansas unemployment rate over the past year (+0.3%) has reflected a steady increase in the number of unemployed, with enough growth in employment and the labor force to maintain a constant unemployment rate since March. In June, the number of unemployed was up by 419 and the number of employed rose by 121. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed has risen by nearly 5,000 (4,886) and the number of employed is up by over 10,000 (10,049).
The stability of the unemployment rate this year is mirrored by Arkansas’ labor force participation rate, which has been steady at 58.4% since February. Nevertheless, over the past two years, Arkansas participation rate has been trending higher, while the U.S. participation rate has declined slightly.
Payroll Employment
Arkansas Nonfarm payroll employment expanded by 1,200 in June (seasonally adjusted). Not-seasonally adjusted figures showed a decline for the month, but that was largely due to the seasonal shedding of education-related jobs. After seasonal adjustment, changes in state and local government employment, as well as private-sector education employment, were nearly unchanged for the month, suggesting that the seasonal effect was typical.
Health Services employment was the largest contributor to the June increase, adding 1,300 jobs. Other sectors showed mixed changes. Expanding sectors included Durables Manufacturing, Wholesale and Retail Trade, and Leisure and Hospitality Services. Declines showed up for Construction, Financial Services, and Professional & Business Services (mostly in the Administrative and Support category).
The decline in Construction employment continues a trend that began last summer after employment in that sector reached a record-high level in August 2024.
Other sectors have been fairly steady or increasing over the past 12 months. Employment Education and Health Services (mostly Health) continues to be the largest driver of job growth.
The 12-month growth rate for Arkansas payroll employment was approximately 1.3%, compared to 1.1% for the U.S. Compared to pre-Covid employment in February 2020, Arkansas employment has expanded by 6.7%, while that of the U.S. has increased by 4.9%.
# # #
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.