Job growth in central Arkansas has been modest, but unemployment in the region is at historic lows, according to a Metroplan report released earlier this month.
The unemployment rate in the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway area fell to 3.1 percent in April 2016, “its lowest level since Metroplan began tracking this figure in the early 1990s.” And though the jobless rate rose to 3.5 percent by August, it remained at a historically low rate.
“In fact, the Little Rock metro area ranked 32nd lowest for its unemployment rate, among 388 U.S. metros, or the top 8 percent for low unemployment,” said the report, the “2016 Economic Review & Outlook.” The report examines trends in the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, or MSA, and was released by Metroplan, the central Arkansas planning agency.
This low jobless rate has been accompanied by a rising labor participation rate, which has increased for the last two years. “Abnormally low unemployment is enticing some non-workers back into the workforce, after years of staying out,” the report said.