Northwest Arkansas Sees Uptick In Seasonal Jobs

By Ron Wood

Posted: January 4, 2012 at 11:53 a.m.

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SPRINGDALE — The Northwest Arkansas metro region got a seasonal employment bump in November but still has a long way to go to get back to pre-recession job numbers.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show unemployment as low as it’s been since 2009, but the region is still 6,845 jobs down from the pre-recession peak, according to Kathy Deck, director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas.

“You can’t look at this as being an indicator of what’s going to happen next," she said. "I think that the levels of spending and the levels of employment were holiday related and don’t necessarily mean that the first quarter is going to be particularly strong. But, that being said, it was the best season we’ve had in a couple of years.”

The unemployment rate for the Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers metroplitan area was 5.5 percent in November, down slightly from 5.9 percent in October. The civilian labor force stood at 228,600 in November, up slightly from 228,400 in October. There were 216,000 workers employed in November, up from 214,900 in October. Also in November, 12,500 people were unemployed, compared to 13,500 a month earlier.

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