Arkansas' unemployment rate rose in September to 3.9%, up one-tenth of a percentage point from August, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and Arkansas Department of Commerce reported Tuesday. Publication of the report was delayed by more than six weeks because of the federal government shutdown that ended last month.
The state's civilian labor force and number of employed Arkansans remained at record levels in September, the department said in the report. Those numbers stood at roughly 1.43 million and 1.37 million, respectively.
Compared to September 2024, there are 9,049 more Arkansans employed and 6,047 more unemployed. The unemployment rate is up four-tenths of a percentage point over the year.
The September report was originally set for release in October, but publication was affected by the record-long federal government shutdown. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics will not publish an October jobs report and the November unemployment report, originally scheduled to be released Dec. 16, has been delayed to Jan. 7, according to a news release.
Over the course of the shutdown, national economists had been left in the dark from the lack of data reporting from the bureau. They instead relied on less-reliable jobs data from banks and hedge funds.
The Federal Reserve, which uses the monthly unemployment report as an idicator of the country's economic health, is meeting Tuesday and Wednesday for its final meeting of the year. A third consecutive rate cut is expected, according to media reports.
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Lucas Dufalla is a Report for America Corps member. Financial support for this coverage came from the Community Journalism Project.