Unemployment figures for Pine Bluff decreased from September to October but remained higher than any other reporting city in the state, according to data released Tuesday by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.
Pine Bluff unemployment dropped to 11.4 percent in October, down from 12 percent in September and down from the 2011 high of 13.3 percent in June.
The raw number of unemployed Pine Bluff residents in October was 2,436 out of a labor force of 21,338.
October unemployment in West Memphis was second highest in the state at 11.2 percent, followed by El Dorado at 11 percent and Hot Springs at 9 percent.
Reporting the lowest unemployment figures in the state for October were Sherwood at 5.3 percent and Rogers and Fayetteville at 5.7 percent.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Jefferson County reported an unemployment rate of 9.8 percent in October, down from 10.3 percent in September and down from a 2011 high of 11.5 percent in June.
The Department of Workforce Services also collect unemployment statistics for the state’s metropolitan statistical areas. The Pine Bluff MSA — which includes Jefferson, Lincoln and Cleveland counties — recorded an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent in October, higher than any of the other MSAs in Arkansas.
Unemployment in the other Arkansas MSAs was:
• 7.9 percent in Fort Smith
• 7.3 percent in Hot Springs
• 6.9 percent in Jonesboro
• 6.8 percent in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
• 5.9 percent in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers.
Statewide, the unemployment rate dropped from 7.8 percent in September to 7.4 percent in October.
The city, county and MSA figures in this article are not seasonally adjusted and the October numbers are preliminary.