The state's unemployment rate in March fell to 4 percent, the lowest rate the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services has recorded since implementing its data tracking system in 1976, a spokesman said Friday.
The rate was down from last month's 4.2 percent, which had been the lowest monthly rate since January 2000.
The number of employed Arkansans rose by 9,562, and the number of unemployed was cut by 2,307.
The unemployment rate decreased in March as employment gains in six industry sectors increased the size of the workforce, spokesman Susan Price said.
The largest gains were posted in the professional and business sector and the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 3,300 and 1,200 jobs, respectively.
Arkansas' unemployment rate was 1 percentage point lower than the national rate, which increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 5 percent.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.