State unemployment rate drops to 7%

Arkansas’ unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point in November to 7.0 percent, the state Department of Workforce Services said Friday.

The state’s civilian labor force decreased by 8,700, from 1,372,100 workers in October to 1,363,400 in November, a result of 6,300 fewer employed and 2,400 fewer unemployed Arkansans, the department said.

“Decreases in the number of employed and unemployed caused a decline in the size of the civilian labor force, which led to a drop in the rate this month,” department spokesman Kimberly Friedman said in a statement. “Arkansas’ unemployment rate has trended downward so far this year, ranging from a high of 7.6 percent in January and February to a low of 7.0 percent in November.”

Meanwhile, the United States’ jobless rate also declined two-tenths of a percentage point, to 7.7 percent.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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