December unemployment was down in Arkansas from a year ago, according to Bureau of Labor Department figures released Wednesday.
The bureau reported overall unemployment in Arkansas at 3.8 percent, down from 4.6 percent a year ago but up from the 3.5 percent recorded in November.
Overall unemployment rates were down in 236 of the nation's 387 metropolitan statistical areas, higher in 111 and unchanged in 40.
Unemployment dropped in each of Arkansas' six metropolitan areas from December 2015. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers showed a decrease from 3.2 percent to 2.7 percent, and in nearby Fort Smith, the rate dropped from 5.1 percent to 4.3 percent.
There were 27 MSAs in the United States with unemployment below 3 percent, and five had rates of 10 percent or more. Other than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, none of Arkansas' other areas were below 3 percent, but all but one of the state's MSAs were below the 4.5 national average (not seasonally adjusted), which was down from the 4.8 percent recorded in December 2015.
December unemployment in the Hot Springs MSA dropped from 5.1 percent in 2015 to 4.3 percent; the Jonesboro MSA fell from 4.1 percent to 3.2 percent, and the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway MSA dropped from 4.0 percent to 3.3 percent.
Only the Pine Bluff MSA unemployment rate was above the national December average, but it was also down from November, dropping from 6.3 percent to 5.2 percent.
The rate in the Texarkana MSA rose slightly from 4.5 percent to 4.6 percent, while Memphis dropped from 6.1 percent to 5.3 percent.
There were 192 areas with a jobless rate below the average of 4.5 percent while 186 had rates that were higher and nine had rates equal to the national average.
The lowest unemployment percentages in the nation were found in Ames, Iowa, and Burlington, Vermont. Both were at 2.1 percent.
The highest unemployment percentages were found in El Centro, California, (18.8 percent) and in Yuma, Arizona (15.3 percent).