The Arkansas unemployment rate increased another 0.1 percentage points in October rising from 3.5% to 3.6%.  It had been previously reported that the U.S. unemployment rate rose by 0.2 to 3.7% in October.

The increase in Arkansas’ unemployment rate resulted from both a decline in household employment and an increase in the number of unemployed.  The number of employed declined by 1,589 in October, the third consecutive monthly decline.  Since July the number of employed has declined by 6,776.  The number of unemployed increased by 1,100 in October.  After 7 monthly increases, the number of unemployed has risen by 7,070 since March.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)

Payroll Employment
Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 600 Jobs in October.  Construction jobs bore the brunt of the decline, falling by 800 jobs.  Other sectors showing declines included Professional & Business Services (with the job losses exclusively in Administrative & Support Services) and Education & Health Services (with the job losses all in the Health Care & Social Assistance category).

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics (CES)

Compared to October 2021, total employment has increased by 29,200, with increases across most goods-producing and service-providing sectors. The sectors that have shown net job losses over the past year include Mining & Logging, Construction, and Retail Trade.

Relative to the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020, Arkansas payroll employment is up by 28,100, or 2.2%.  Nationwide, the net increase in payroll employment since February 2020 has been 0.5%.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics (CES)

# # #

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.