Fort Smith, Arkansas Job Growth

There were 108,200 jobs in Fort Smith, Arkansas in March 2012 according to the CES survey of employers. The CPS survey of households showed 117,444 employed persons for the month. Fort Smith lost 1,400 jobs in March 2012 according to the CES survey while the broader CPS measure of employment fell by 1,079 (Comparing CES and CPS employment numbers.). You can also compare Fort Smith job growth to job growth in other cities.

Employment Survey	March 2012	Month/Month	Year/Year
CES	108,200	-1,400	-7,300
CPS	117,444	-1,079	-6,641

Note: The CPS survey data is now seasonally adjusted at the metropolitan level by with the new BLS SSA series.

Fort Smith, Arkansas Employment Changes

The chart below shows the monthly job growth for Fort Smith as measured by the CES survey. To illustrate the trend, the 3 month moving average change in employment is shown in green. The CPS data is not shown since it is not seasonally adjusted at the metropolitan level.

CES Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

CPS Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

Total Employment for Fort Smith, Arkansas

CES employment for Fort Smith peaked in November 2007 at 127,100. Since then 18,900 jobs have been lost in Fort Smith according to the employer survey.

CPS employment reached a maximum of 132,458 for Fort Smith in December 2007. 15,014 jobs have been lost in Fort Smith since then according to the household survey.

Employment: CES, CPS

Fort Smith, Arkansas Employment History

Date	CES Employment	CES Month/Month	CPS Employment	CPS Month/Month
March 2012	108,200	-1,400	117,444	-1,079
February 2012	109,600	-900	118,523	-1,442
January 2012	110,500	100	119,965	-1,308
December 2011	110,400	-800	121,273	-38
November 2011	111,200	0	121,311	292
October 2011	111,200	100	121,019	-188
September 2011	111,100	-600	121,207	-692
August 2011	111,700	-600	121,899	-651
July 2011	112,300	-100	122,550	-702
June 2011	112,400	-2,200	123,252	-1,117
May 2011	114,600	-500	124,369	275
April 2011	115,100	-400	124,094	9
March 2011	115,500	0	124,085	358