The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which researches a number of economic issues, is the source for the accompanying chart, which tracks Arkansas’ unemployment rate from Jan. 1, 1976, through Dec. 1, 2016, when it stood at 3.9 percent.
The high point for unemployment in the state during these years occurred from December 1982 through February 1983, when it was 10.3 percent. This was immediately following the 1981-82 recession, which officially began in July 1981 and ended in November 1982, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
In the aftermath of the Great Recession — December 2007 through June 2009 — Arkansas’ jobless rate rose to 8.4 percent in January 2011, remaining there through May 2011.
The state’s current unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent in January, its lowest ever.