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News PINE BLUFF-AREA UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS, STILL HIGH IN STATE By Amy Widner/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF Although the U.S. jobless rate skyrocketed to 10.2 percent in October, the highest since early 1983, the most recent unemployment numbers for the Pine Bluff area show a decrease in unemployment figures. The local figures for October won’t be released until mid-November. Statewide, the September unemployment rate was 6.7 percent. Statewide unemployment also peaked for the year in July at 7.7 percent. It was 4.8 percent in September 2008. The Pine Bluff-area unemployment rate remained higher in September than the other metropolitan statistical areas of the state: The Pine Bluff area had a labor force of 44,250 in September, 40,350 of whom were employed and 3,900 of whom were unemployed. Lou Ann Nisbett is president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County. “I think there were a lot of employers out there who were just waiting to see what the economy was going to do,” Nisbett said. “Maybe some of them are now hiring people again.” David Norton is director of the Arkansas Workforce Centers’ 10-county Southeast Arkansas Workforce Investment Area. He said the statistics may show that fewer people are unemployed, but he’s not necessarily seeing that reflected in his day-to-day interactions with the unemployed. He said about 2,000 people a month are coming through their Regency Square office, and from 400-1,000 people are coming through their office near the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. “You can walk in our door any day of the week here in Pine Bluff and see the number of people looking for jobs,” Norton said. “We’re extremely busy. I don’t know that our traffic flow has changed all that much.” Norton sees things more as a mixture of positives and negatives. “We haven’t had any major layoffs in Southeast Arkansas, in the 10-county area that I cover, that’s the good news,” Norton said. “The bad news is that there aren’t any big companies coming in and hiring a lot of people.” With other layoffs on the horizon, like those as the operations draw to a close over the next couple years at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, Norton is, at best, guardedly optimistic. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Norton said. Unemployment statistics at the state level can be adjusted for seasonal employment (like agriculture, landscaping, education); however, regional statistics are not reported to reflect seasonal labor. For comparison, all statistics in this article have not been adjusted for seasonal fluctuations. Lauren Goins with the director’s office of the Department of Workforce Services said the October regional unemployment data will be released Nov. 20. Unemployment assistance is available at the Pine Bluff Department of Workforce Services office, 1001 S. Tennessee St. More information is available by calling 534-1920. Pine Bluff has two Arkansas Workforce Centers offices: One at 3135 W. 28th Ave. in Regency Square and another at 2003 N. University, Suite 2. Arkansas Workforce Centers provide job training and job placement. More information is available by calling 575-9797 for the Regency Square location or 534-7700 for the North University location. Arkansas unemployment statistics are available online at www.discoverarkansas.net. |
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