LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ unemployment rate is continuing a downward trend, dropping from 7.4 percent in March to 7.2 percent in April, according to labor statistics released Friday.
“Arkansas’ rate hasn’t been this low since April of 2009,” said Kimberly Friedman, spokeswoman for the state Department of Workforce Services.
Gov. Mike Beebe said he was happy to see that the jobs picture “continues to look better and better.”
“If you get it down in the 6’s, the 5’s and 6’s is where most folks consider it full employment, statistically,” he told reporters Friday.
The state’s rate for April was nine-tenths of a percentage point below the national rate of 8.1 percent, which was down from 8.2 percent in March.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In April 2011, the state’s unemployment rate was 8 percent and the national rate was 9 percent.
The Department of Workforce Services reported that 1.29 million people were employed in Arkansas last month and 100,600 were out of work. The total civilian labor force in the state grew by 500 in April.
“The number of employed Arkansans increased for the ninth straight month,” Friedman said. “Compared to a year ago, there are 30,700 more employed Arkansans.”
Eight major industry sectors reported gains since March, one declined and two remained the same. Leisure and hospitality saw the largest increase in April with 3,700 jobs added, most of them seasonal and most in food services.
Education and health services added 1,100 jobs last month, with the growth mostly attributed to hiring at nursing and residential care facilities and hospitals.
Trade, transportation and utilities added 600 jobs in April, with seasonal gains in retail and wholesale trade more than offsetting losses in transportation-warehousing-utilities.
The only sector reporting a decrease last month was professional and business services, which lost 200 jobs. Gains in management jobs were not enough to offset losses in administrative and support services.
Although the number of people employed in the state was larger in April than a year earlier, the number of non-farm payroll jobs in the state declined over the past year. Friedman said the numbers typically do not align because they are calculated in different ways.
Since April 2011, six major industry sectors reported declines, more than offsetting growth in four sectors. One remained the same. The biggest decrease was in professional and business services, which lost 5,500 jobs over the past year, most of them in administrative and support services.
Manufacturing jobs declined by 5,000 since April 2011, with the losses attributed to layoffs and closures.
Trade, transportation and utilities lost 2,500 jobs over the past year, with most of the losses occurring in retail and attributed to reductions at general merchandise stores.
Leisure and hospitality reported the biggest increase since April 2011 with 4,800 jobs added in accommodation and food services.
Jobs in government increased by 3,700 over the past year.