Five Of Six Arkansas Cities See Drop In Unemployment Rates

Arkansas' six metropolitan areas once again have shown better year-over-year employment statistics than the rest of the nation.

For the second month in a row, Jonesboro's unemployment rate fell more than any area in the nation.

The city's unemployment rate in October clocked in at 4.3 percent, compared with 4.9 percent for the same period a year ago. In all, five of Arkansas' metropolitan areas fell in October when compared with the October 2007 numbers, (PDF).

The second largest drop in unemployment rate came in Fort Smith, which logged a 4.7 percent unemployment rate in October 2008 and a 5.1 percent in October 2007.

Only eight of the nation's 369 metropolitan areas registered drops in unemployment rates for October 2008 compared to the same period one year ago. Overall, the states unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percent from October 2007 to October 2008. The state's unemployment rate ended at 4.7 percent in October 2008, compared with 4.9 percent in October 2007.

The BLS numbers are not seasonally adjusted. Arkansas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October was 5.4 percent.

In Arkansas, Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers' rate dropped from 3.6 in October 2007 to 3.5 last month; Fort Smith's rate fell from 3.6 to 3.5; Hot Springs fell from 5.1 to 4.8; Jonesboro sank from 4.9 to 4.3; Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway fell from 4.5 to 4.0; and only Pine Bluff registered an increase, jumping from 6.4 to 6.6.

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