State's unemployment rate ticks up for first time this year

The state's unemployment rate went up slightly in August, the first time it has risen in 2014, officials said.

The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services says the statewide unemployment rate in August was 6.3 percent, up from 6.2 percent in July. The national unemployment rate, meanwhile, decreased from 6.2 percent in July to 6.1 percent in August.

The agency said the civilian labor force, which represents the sum of employed and unemployed Arkansans, was down 2,100 from the month before as "a result of 2,800 fewer employed and 700 more unemployed Arkansans."

The statewide unemployment rate was down more than a full percentage point from the 7.7 percent recorded in August 2013.

See Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.

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