End of Seasonal Work Pushes Northwest Arkansas' Unemployment Rate Higher

The end of holiday work pushed Northwest Arkansas' unemployment rate up to 5.9 percent in January.

The rate was 4.9 percent in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"January tends to have a higher unemployment rate each year," said Mervin Jebaraj, research assistant with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas. "The increase is completely seasonal."

The rate was 5.9 percent in January 2013.

Local unemployment numbers aren't seasonally adjusted.

Northwest Arkansas is part of the Metropolitan Statistical Area that includes Washington, Benton and Madison counties in Arkansas and McDonald County, Mo.

Jebaraj said the good news is the unemployment rate has been on a downward trend the past year and should stay low this year. The area's highest unemployment number came in February 2010 when it hit 7.2 percent.

The unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in the state and 7 percent nationwide in January.

Northwest Arkansas did see a slight drop in its labor force from last year, but that drop will likely be short lived, he said.

January's labor force shrunk to 230,145 from 233,300 a year earlier. Labor force is the total people employed or looking work.

"We are still one of the fastest growing areas in the state," he said.

Mike Harvey, chief operating officer of the Northwest Arkansas Council, agreed it's more important to look at the trend rather than a snapshot of the numbers.

"Northwest Arkansas is on a good course overall and we know one month does not a trend make," he said. "We're going to keep an eye on it, though."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revised employment numbers that cut the area's reported job growth in 2013 in half. Early projections had Northwest Arkansas gaining nearly 10,000 jobs. The revised number showed employers added about 5,000 jobs.

The Northwest Arkansas Council recently released a report showing regional employers anticipate hiring more than 2,000 workers over the next three years.

Most job categories experienced job growth from January 2013 to this January. Areas seeing slight decreases were manufacturing, information and other services. Information includes publishing, broadcast and telecommunication jobs and other services are jobs that don't fall into other areas ranging from equipment repair to pet care services.

Professional and business services is one growing job area with employers adding about 1,100 jobs between January 2013 and this January. Jobs in this area range from lawyers and accountants to consulting and advertising.

TPN is doing its part to help the professional and business services area grow. The retail marketing firm is expanding its business in Bentonville.

The company has a nationwide presence, including offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Its Bentonville office works with Walmart and its suppliers to get products on the shelves and into customers' baskets.

The Dallas-based firm has had a one-person presence in Bentonville for several years and started staffing a three-person office last fall. John Meyer joined the office as managing director in January.

Meyer has worked in the retail marking industry for about a dozen years in Bentonville, previously working in the marketing division of Acosta Sales & Marketing.

He said TPN will expand its workforce as needed. Meyer said as the company's client base expands they'll hire people for account servicing.

"Bentonville is really the center of retail for the whole country with all the top talent that has come here and stayed here over the years," he said. "There is a pretty rich pool of talent here in Bentonville."

NW News on 03/22/2014