LITTLE ROCK: Arkansas’ June unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, the same rate as the previous month, according to labor statistics released Friday. The state Department of Workforce Services said U.S. Department of Labor data shows that 1.3 million Arkansans were employed and 52,289 were unemployed last month. Compared to May, the number of employed was down 3,147 and the number of unemployed was up 344.
“While the number of employed in Arkansas declined slightly in June, employment is still up 48,742 over the year. Changes in employment and unemployment were not enough to raise the unemployment rate this month,” said DWS Bureau of Labor and Statistics Program Operations Manager Susan Price. The state’s unemployment rate over the past two months is an all-time low.
Arkansas’ June unemployment rate was more than a percentage point below the national rate of 4.9 percent, which was up from 4.7 percent in May. In June 2015, Arkansas’ unemployment rate and the national unemployment rate were both 5.3 percent.
Seven major industry sectors in the state reported slight job gains and three reported job losses last month. The biggest increase was in professional health services, which added 900 jobs across all subsectors. The biggest drop in June was in government, which lost 5,300 jobs. The decrease was attributed to summer closures at public schools and universities. Education and health services decreased by 2,800 jobs, 2,300 of them seasonal losses in education services.
