Texarkana Area Unemployment Rate Trends

Of course, statistics are not intended to be precise. They provide insight into what is probably going on and what needs to be celebrated and problem areas that need attention.

According to the Federal Government’s Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) the combined Texarkana Arkansas and Texarkana Texas unemployment rate was 5.3 for February 2019 and 4.5 for March 2019.

BLS report for Texas side alone was not easily available; one non-BLS report puts Texarkana Texas alone at 5.1 for February 2019. The national rate for both February and March 2019 was 3.8.

Per Arkansas Economist: For February 2019, the Arkansas unemployment rate was 4.3 and 3.8 for not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted, respectively. For Texarkana, it was 5.3 and 5.1, respectively. Arkansas Economist did not report data for the USA for this period but BLS data sheet reports 3.8.

The below figures are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as recorded by the Arkansas Economic Institute in its Arkansas Economist publication. BLS technical definition of the phrases not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted as used below may be found here. As a general rule monthly figures reported in the news are seasonally adjusted but annual figures reported are for the not seasonally adjusted data according to BLS.

Per Arkansas Economist: The Arkansas unemployment rate for July 2008 was 5.3 and 5.0 for not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted respectively. For July 2009 these were 7.7 and 7.4 respectively. For Texarkana, these were 4.8, 4.5, 6.7, and 6,3, respectively. For the USA these were 6.0, 5.8, 9.7, and 9.4 respectively.

Per Arkansas Economist: For October 2008, the Arkansas unemployment rate was 4.8 and 5.4 for not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted respectively. For October 2009 these were 7.0 and 7.3, respectively. For Texarkana, these were 4.8, 5.0, 7.0, and 7.3, respectively. For the USA these were 6.1, 6.6, 9.5, and 10.2, respectively. Thus, we seemingly see the effect of the economic bust that began in a major way in the late 2008 to early 2009 time frame.

Per Arkansas Economist: For October 2011, the Arkansas unemployment rate was 7.3 and 8.0 for not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted, respectively. For Texarkana, it was 7.2 and 7.4, respectively. Arkansas Economist did not report data for the USA for this period but BLS data sheet reports 8.8. October 2011 to October 2012 seems to be around the time when the unemployment rate climaxed.

Per Arkansas Economist: For October 2012, the Arkansas unemployment rate was 6.6 and 7.2 for not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted, respectively. For Texarkana, it was 5.9 and 6.2, respectively. Arkansas Economist did not report data for the USA for this period but BLS data sheet reports 7.8.

Per Arkansas Economist: For October 2016, the Arkansas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.0. For Texarkana, it was 4.7. Arkansas Economist did not report data for the USA nor for not seasonally adjusted data for this period but BLS data sheet reports 4.9 for the USA.

Per Arkansas Economist: For September 2018, the Arkansas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5. For Texarkana, it was 5.1. Arkansas Economist did not report data for the USA nor for not seasonally adjusted data for this period but BLS data sheet reports 3.7 for the USA.

I noticed that the not for seasonally adjusted was greater than the seasonally adjusted for years 2008 and 2019. Not sure if this is significant since I am not a economist but wondering if this is not the case when the economy is relatively stable.

I noticed that the not for seasonally adjusted was greater than the seasonally adjusted for years 2008 and 2019. Not sure if this is significant since I am not a economist but wondering if this is not the case when the economy is relatively stable.

Let us now consider racial unemployment rates.

According to BLS, the reported national black unemployment rate for April 2009 and April 2019 are 15.0 and 6.7 respectively. The reported national White unemployment rate for the same periods are 8.1 and 3.1, respectively. Notice that the black unemployment rate approximates twice that of the white unemployment rate. This ratio is historically consistent even going back to at least the year 2000.

For 2018, the BLS reported Arkansas Unemployment Rate was 3.8; for whites it was 3.0 and for blacks it was 6.7. Report is not just on Arkansas. PDF version is available here. “Expanded State Employment Status Demographic Data” for a variety of years may be available here at BLS website.

One source has the December 2018 and February 2019 Miller County rate at 4.5 and 5.2, respectively, and the Texarkana, Arkansas February 2019 rate at 5.4 . These are overall rates as racial breakdowns were not easily available.

One source has the March 2019 Miller County unemployment rate at 4.1

For March 2019, the reported overall unemployment rate for Arkansas at 3.7, for whites in Arkansas at 3.0 and for blacks in Arkansas at 6.8; for Arkansas white youth (16-19) at 7.2 and for Arkansas black youth (16-19) at 20.3.

Reference:

Arkansas Department of Workforce

BLS National Unemployment Rate Data Sheet

BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (General)

BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics By State, Race, … (Multiple Years)

Economagic.com Info on Unemployment

Quarterly BLS View of Unemployment By Race, Gender, and Age

Arkansas Unemployment Rate By County

Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and metropolitan area

BLS Unemployment rate and employment-population ratio vary by race and ethnicity

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Government Socio-Economics

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