Unemployment rate in your city

[bigboyz05]

What's the current unemployment rate in your city or metropolitain area? Here in TXK it's 4.9%.

[Mith242]

I haven't seen any recent figures but NWA has been around the 2.7 to 3.5 range for the past few years.

[dimebag1980]

Is this just Arkansas cities, Darius?

If not, then as of August Shreveport was at 3.6% and Bossier was at 3.0%. July had Shreveport at 3.5% and Bossier at 2.9%. I believe last month Shreveport was below 3% but I can't be certain without having the actual figure.

I'd be interested in seeing Texarkana's rates throughout this year, because I'd expect to see the number gradually going down. Is that correct?

[Aporkalypse]

Here are the unemployment numbers from August:

ARKANSAS 5.2%

USA 4.6%

Pine Bluff 7.8%

Texarkana 5.4%

Jonesboro 5.0%

Hot Springs 4.7%

Little Rock 4.6%

Fort Smith 4.3%

NWA (F-S-R) 3.1%

Memphis-W Memphis is 6.4%

[Aporkalypse]

Is this just Arkansas cities, Darius?

If not, then as of August Shreveport was at 3.6% and Bossier was at 3.0%. July had Shreveport at 3.5% and Bossier at 2.9%. I believe last month Shreveport was below 3% but I can't be certain without having the actual figure.

I'd be interested in seeing Texarkana's rates throughout this year, because I'd expect to see the number gradually going down. Is that correct?

[dimebag1980]

Shreveport dropped from 5.9% a year ago to 3.6%, tying it for 4th biggest drop in unemployment out of 367 metros.

Looking at the top 8 in that category, 7 of them are in Lousiana - Alexandria and Monroe are tied for 2nd, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and SBC are tied for 4th and Houma and Lafayette are tied for 7th. All of them went from relatively high unemployments vs the national average to relatively low. I wonder if this is somehow related to Katrina but Gulfport-Biloxi is dead last out of 367 and Jackson and Pascagoula are near the bottom as well. I can't figure out.

Almost all of the Arkansas metros had a rise in unemployment in the last year, most by 0.5% or so and NWA by only 0.2% and Ft Smith by 0.3%.

[Aporkalypse]

I didn't realize Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and Lake Charles all dropped that much. Wow. Out of 367 metros, 4th place is quite impressive.

I'm not sure, to be honest. I know some jobs have been added thanks to the movie industry. In Shreveport we've had more manufacturing jobs come online, and I believe the casino industry stayed stable... possibly employing more when ElDorado and Diamond Jack's took over local casino properties. As for the rest of the state, I don't know. This would be a good topic for you to ask about over in the Louisiana forum, though, because some of those guys might have mroe insight than I do about that.

[dimebag1980]

If it were Shreveport along I would attribute it to the casino's but it's not, it's a pan-Louisiana phenomenon. I had always thought of Monroe as struggling and even they put up great numbers.

[bigboyz05]

Is this just Arkansas cities, Darius?

If not, then as of August Shreveport was at 3.6% and Bossier was at 3.0%. July had Shreveport at 3.5% and Bossier at 2.9%. I believe last month Shreveport was below 3% but I can't be certain without having the actual figure.

I'd be interested in seeing Texarkana's rates throughout this year, because I'd expect to see the number gradually going down. Is that correct?

[Rardy]

Shreveport dropped from 5.9% a year ago to 3.6%, tying it for 4th biggest drop in unemployment out of 367 metros.

Looking at the top 8 in that category, 7 of them are in Lousiana - Alexandria and Monroe are tied for 2nd, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and SBC are tied for 4th and Houma and Lafayette are tied for 7th. All of them went from relatively high unemployments vs the national average to relatively low. I wonder if this is somehow related to Katrina but Gulfport-Biloxi is dead last out of 367 and Jackson and Pascagoula are near the bottom as well. I can't figure out.

Almost all of the Arkansas metros had a rise in unemployment in the last year, most by 0.5% or so and NWA by only 0.2% and Ft Smith by 0.3%.

Which leads me to wonder, where are all the Louisiana jobs coming from over the last year?

[Aporkalypse]

Louisiana's got a lot going on right now. For one thing all of the cities south of Alexandria are getting adjusted to having thousands of new residents. That accounts for a lot of new construction in those areas. There's also a lot of rebuilding going on in the cities devastated by the two hurricanes.

Louisiana always does well when oil prices are high, and is reaping the benefits of two years of that. Lafayette, Houma, and Morgan City boom with offshore oil discoveries.

Finally, from what I gather, the GO Zone (Gulf Opportunity) is prompting a lot of employers to relocate or expand. All of south Louisiana is in a boom right now from the largest cities down to the smallest. It will be interesting to see how that influences population patterns.

I think you reversed Memphis' unemployment rate. Last statistic I saw put us at 4.6%, not the other way around.

EDIT: Why did I post this in Arkansas???

[dimebag1980]

I forgot all about the whole GO Zone issue. That is a HUGE factor in south Louisiana's growth right now. The only beef I have with the GO Zone is, while it is helping to rebuild certain areas that were destroyed by hurricanes, it's also giving an unfair advantage to areas they weren't affected... just because they're along the Gulf. That really hurts north Louisiana, because we don't have anything similar in place. Louisiana has always been unbalanced... the vast majority of the state's population and industry being along I-10... and this will further upset the balance between north and south Louisiana, I'm afraid.

I'm all for helping to rebuild damaged areas, but I personally believe that a specific municipality or parish must have been affected by a hurricane to a certain percentage to even qualify. This would help keep from giving an unfair advantage to areas that really don't need it anymore than Shreveport, Monroe, or Alexandria.