Arkansas’s unemployment rate dropped for another month, standing at 5.6 percent for February, in a report released Friday by the Department of Workforce Services. The state lags one-tenth of a percent behind the U.S. unemployment rate.
DWS spokesperson Becky Heflin says the 5,800 person drop in the ranks of the jobless is a continuation of positive jobs reports.
“Employment has increased each month in 2014 and we’re off to a great start in 2015 with Arkansas’s employment increasing in both January and February,” said Heflin.
9,800 people gained employment during the month. Heflin attributed most of the increase in employment between the two months’ reports to the re-opening of schools after winter break. 5,200 government positions, mostly in education, were added and 3,500 in hospitality and leisure.
The manufacturing industry experienced the greatest loss of more than 2,100 positions.
