County’s Unemployment Rate at 4 Percent

RISON - Cleveland County’s unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent in March, which puts it below the national average but above the state average, according to data from the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services.Workforce Services released its latest unemployment figures last week, revealing that Arkansas had an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent in April compared to 4.2 percent nationally for the same month. Both the state and national averages for April remained unchanged from the previous month of March.The most recent data available on the county level was for  March. According to Workforce Services, 122 from a workforce of 3,017 people within Cleveland County were jobless in March, resulting in an unemployment rate of 4.0 percent.That reflects a drop by half a of a percentage point from February when the unemployment rate was at 4.5 percent. Cleveland County’s jobless rate was at 4.3 percent in January.In a year-to-year comparison, the county’s unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for March 2024.Overall, the county’s unemployment rate is currently running higher this year than it was in 2024. There were only two months last year when the rate was above 4 percent: 4.2 percent in June and 4.5 percent in July. For the other months last year, the rate ranged from a low of 2.9 percent in April to 3.9 percent in August and December.While Cleveland County’s rate has run higher this year, it was still among the lowest in the region when compared to surrounding counties. Grant County had the lowest jobless rate in March at 3.2 percent while neighboring Dallas and Calhoun counties had unemployment rates that equaled Cleveland County’s at 4 percent. Drew County came in at 4.4 percent.The other three counties were above 5 percent. Bradley County has the highest jobless rate at 6.2 percent while both Jefferson and Lincoln counties both came in at 5.2 percent.Benton County in far Northwest Ark...