Arkansas\u2019 economy added more than 18,000 jobs August compared with August 2024, but also posted a 10% year-over-year gain in the number of unemployed. The state\u2019s jobless rate was 3.8% in August, up from 3.7% in July and above 3.5% in August 2024.<\/p>\n
Total nonfarm employment \u2014 seasonally adjusted \u2014 was an estimated 1,385,800 in August, up 18,200 jobs, or 1.3%, compared with 1,367,500 in August 2024. The number of unemployed was 53,852, up 10% compared with August 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report posted Friday (Sept. 19).<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s civilian labor force was an estimated 1,427,207, above 1413,653 in August 2024. The labor force participation rate was 58.4% in August, slightly higher than 58.3% in August 2024.<\/p>\n
The biggest year-over-year sector gains with nonfarm employment were in education and health services (9,100 more jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (4,000 more jobs); and leisure and hospitality (3,300 more jobs).<\/p>\n
NATIONAL NUMBERS
Unemployment rates were higher in August in three states, lower in two states, and stable in 45 states. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia had jobless rate increases from a year earlier, nine states had decreases, and 24 states had little change. The national unemployment rate was 4.3%.<\/p>\n
South Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in August at 1.9%. The District had the highest unemployment rate at 6%. The next highest rate was in California at 5.5%. In total, 22 states had rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.3%, three states and the District had higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.<\/p>\n
Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 20 states and was essentially unchanged in 30 states. The largest job gains were in Texas (up 195,600), New York (up 125,100), and Pennsylvania (up 101,200). The largest percentage increase occurred in South Carolina (up 3.1%), followed by Hawaii and New Mexico (up 1.9% each).<\/p>\n
ARKANSAS JOB SECTOR NUMBERS
(nonfarm employment, seasonally adjusted)
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
August 2025: 273,900
August 2024: 269,900<\/p>\n
Education and Health Services
August 2025: 222,900
August 2024: 213,800<\/p>\n
Government
August 2025: 212,800
August 2024: 212,300<\/p>\n
Manufacturing
August 2025: 164,700
August 2024: 162,100<\/p>\n
Professional and Business Services
August 2025: 161,100
August 2024: 160,300<\/p>\n
Leisure and Hospitality
August 2025: 132,000
August 2024: 128,700<\/p>\n
Financial Activities
August 2025: 70,900
August 2024: 69,700<\/p>\n
Construction
August 2025: 65,500
August 2024: 67,500<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arkansas\u2019 economy added more than 18,000 jobs August compared with August 2024, but also posted a 10% year-over-year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[103821,64,63,99,180],"class_list":{"0":"post-155653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-arkansas-jobless","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-jobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}