July labor data released from the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services show Arkansas’s unemployment rate declining slightly to 5.6 percent for the month. The June figure was 5.7 percent.
That’s still somewhat above the national unemployment rate, which remained at 5.3 percent for the month of July.
Labor force numbers declined ever so slightly as well, said DWS:
Arkansas’ civilian labor force declined 300, a result of 1,300 fewer unemployed and 1,000 more employed Arkansans. …ADWS Program Operations Manager Susan Price said, “Arkansas’ civilian labor force declined slightly in July, with the drop in the number of unemployed more than offsetting a small gain in employment. There are still 40,300 more Arkansans in the labor force than in July 2014.”