MS employers added workers in August, with payrolls rising for the second straight month, while the unemployment rate was flat.
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Omaha’s unemployment rate for August was 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent in July but ahead of August 2015’s 3.2 percent. Over the year, that rate is up one-tenth of a percentage point from 3.7 percent in August 2015.
The number of unemployed Arkansas residents went up by 267 from July to August while 1,520 people dropped out of the labor force, which is the number of people working or seeking work in the state. The nationwide jobless rate stayed level at 4.9 percent.
The increase was led by a surge in professional and business service jobs, while the leisure and hospitality sector also showed strong gains. The Lincoln rate dropped two-tenths of a point, to 3 percent from 3.2 percent in July.
DEW Executive Director Cheryl Stanton pointed to the lower unemployment rate – the lowest since May 2001 – as an indication that the state’s economy “continued its robust growth” in August. The year-ago figure was 2.6 percent.
Nearby Champaign County saw a jobless rate of 4.7 percent in August, down from 5.1 percent the month before, but up a bit from 4.5 percent in August 2015.
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Butler County saw a 4.2 percent unemployment rate last month, which was a slight improvement over the 4.4 percent rate in July.
