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State jobless rate rises to 5.6 percent in January Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas' unemployment rate rose one-tenth of 1 percent point in January to 5.6 percent, well above the national average, the state reported Tuesday. The national jobless rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.9 percent. Statistics from the state Department of Workforce Services showed Arkansas' civilian labor force grew by 3,900 in January. The number of employed grew by 1,800, while the number of unemployed rose by 2,100. Job losses in all major industry sectors caused nonfarm payroll jobs to drop 21,200 in January to 1,190,900. "Although nonfarm payroll jobs declined 21,200 between December and January, the change is within the historical range for the past 10 years, with the average loss at 24,000 jobs," department spokeswoman Kimberly Friedman said. The largest drop came in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which lost 7,800 jobs mostly because of the release of workers hired for the holiday shopping season at retail stores, the department said. Government jobs fell by 3,200 behind winter break for school systems, construction jobs fell by 2,100 and leisure and hospitality jobs were down by 2,100 as well. Over the year, Arkansas' nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 6,000. The largest gain came in educational and health services, which rose 4,300 since January 2007. Natural resources and mining jobs grew by 1,600 since January 2007, while the manufacturing sector lost 7,900 jobs in the same period. |
