The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the state of Arkansas finished 2023 with an unemployment rate of 3.4%, identical to the rate at the start of the year. This figure denotes a slight increase from 3.3% in November, however, this remains below the national U.S. rate of 3.7% recorded last month.

At its lowest, unemployment dropped to 2.6% during the summer but has been slowly increasing since. The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services announced on Tuesday that the state had 3,638 fewer employed citizens in December compared to November. In addition, approximately 2,500 additional Arkansas residents actively sought employment.

The state’s civilian labor force decreased by 1,147 in December whereas the Arkansas labor force participation rate slightly decreased to 57.6%. However, there was a year-on-year increase, with 18,263 more people employed and an additional 446 unemployed citizens in December 2023 than in December 2022. The labor force participation rate also saw a marginal increase of two-tenths of a percentage point in comparison to the previous year.