Arkansas reports promising declining unemployment figures as the state approaches a general economic recovery. | unsplash.com/photos/K0c8ko3e6AA
Arkansas reports promising declining unemployment figures as the state approaches a general economic recovery. | unsplash.com/photos/K0c8ko3e6AA
Arkansas reported a higher-than-usual job-count in August, an indicator of a statewide economic recovery amid the pandemic.
The state’s three largest metro regions reported a 31,000 increase in employed individuals. All-in-all the gains were calculated to be 68.3% of all jobs gained in the state during that period, Talk Business & Politics reported Sept. 30.
The creation of jobs led to an unemployment rate decline to 4.2% in August, standing at 0.8 points below the national average, and down 2.3 percentage points from the same time last year. The professional and business services sector led the recovery, adding 11,500 jobs, while the tourism industry added 8,300, Talk Business & Politics reported Sept. 17.
The state’s economic status has improved so much, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has considered implementing tax cuts, KNWA reported.
“That’s exciting whenever coming through a pandemic, that we have a good economy coming in Arkansas, and that we can look at tax reductions even during this time because of a surplus we’ve built and because of the growing economy that we have in Arkansas,” Hutchinson said. “That will be part of a second special session in mid-October.”
The job rate increases reflect part of a general nationwide recovery in which 35 states have declared themselves stable. Forty-nine states reported unemployment decreases, with Nevada leading the highest unemployment rate in August at 7.7%, followed by California and New York, 7.5% and 7.4%, respectively, Talk Business & Politics reported. Nebraska had the lowest jobless rate at 2.2%.
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