The October unemployment rates for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) were released by the BLS this morning.  The report on state unemployment rates released two weeks ago showed that Arkansas’ unemployment rate rose by one-half of one percent to 7.6 percent.  The new data for Arkansas’ MSAs show similar sharp increases.

As noted in earlier posts, the MSA data are not seasonally adjusted by BLS.  The unadjusted data show that unemployment rates rose slightly or remained steady in October.  However, October is a month in which seasonal movements typically result in a falling unemployment rate.  After accounting for this recurring pattern, seasonally-adjusted measures show increases in the range of 0.4 to 0.6 percent.

The table below summarizes the MSA unemployment rate data for October.