Local Employment Fares Better Than Most
Last updated Wednesday, October 29, 2008 6:06 PM CDT in Business
By Kim Souza
THE MORNING NEWS
SPRINGDALE -- Stories reporting job losses have become a regular occurrence as the national economy has slipped, but the news is better for Northwest Arkansas as unemployment rates declined year-over-year in September.
While the national unemployment rate hit 6.1 percent last month, locally the rate was one of the lowest in the nation at 3.5 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. (The figures are not seasonally adjusted.)
The region again outperformed the nation, due in part to the muted effect Arkansas has with respect to plummeting home values and the larger credit crisis, said Kathy Deck, director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas. She said there are indications that unemployment will worsen a bit in the coming months as a number of recent layoffs have yet to be counted in the data.
Dating to September 2007, the labor force in Northwest Arkansas has grown nearly 5.5 percent, while the number of unemployed has declined 8 percent -- a clear indication of positive job creation, according to Jeff Collins, economist with StreetSmart Data Services of Fayetteville.
Collins said a 3.5 percent unemployment rate looks great against the national numbers and indicates a fairly tight labor market, but it's higher than the region felt during recent boom years. He said although jobs are still being created, the pace has rapidly slowed.
In the light industrial and manufacturing sector, the local job market is soft, with more applicants than openings, said Chris Rothwell, director of sales for Action Staffing in Springdale.
He said with the slowdown in construction and the continued contraction in manufacturing jobs, he has recently sent some applicants to Mississippi for work.
"They relocated out-of-state and took jobs in Mississippi, which historically have been hard to fill," Rothwell said.
The 3.5 percent unemployment rate seemed too low to Rothwell based on the number of applicants he has seen compared with job openings. In September, the region employed 900 fewer workers in manufacturing jobs than a year earlier.
Professional and Business Services employed 800 more workers in the year-over-year period, and the education and health service sector also expanded by 800. Both the hospitality and retail sectors each employed 400 more workers than in the year-ago period.
In the Fort Smith area, the September unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, but expected to increase in the next few months with the downsizing at Whirlpool and Rheem announced recently.
Statewide, the unemployment rate for September was 4.6 percent, down from 5.1 percent in the year-ago period. Jonesboro and Little Rock reported 4.3 percent and 4 percent respectively, each slightly better from a year ago.
Nationwide, unemployment rates were higher in 349 of the 369 largest metropolitan areas, lower in 14 areas and unchanged in six areas, according to the Department of Labor. Economists predict the national unemployment rate could reach as high as 9 percent in the coming months as the economy muddles through a recession.
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