Department of Numbers

Fort Smith, Arkansas Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Fort Smith fell 0.1 percentage points in November 2020 to 6.3%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.1 percentage points higher than the Arkansas rate. The unemployment rate in Fort Smith peaked in April 2020 at 12.4% and is now 6.1 percentage points lower. You can also compare Fort Smith unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.7% -0.2 +3.1
Arkansas 6.2% 0.0 +2.7
Fort Smith 6.3% -0.1 +2.6
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2020 data as December metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Fort Smith, Arkansas, National

Fort Smith, Arkansas monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Fort Smith, Arkansas Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Fort Smith peaked in April 2020 at 14,309. There are now 7,012 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Fort Smith employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Fort Smith, Arkansas) is also available.

Unemployed Persons November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Fort Smith 7,297 -114 +2,949

Number of Unemployed Persons

Fort Smith, Arkansas Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Arkansas
Unemployment Rate		 Fort Smith
Unemployment Rate		 Fort Smith
Unemployed
December
2020		 6.7% — — —
November
2020		 6.7% 6.2% 6.3% 7,297
October
2020		 6.9% 6.2% 6.4% 7,411
September
2020		 7.8% 7.2% 6.9% 8,051
August
2020		 8.4% 7.4% 7.0% 8,209
July
2020		 10.2% 7.1% 7.4% 8,382
June
2020		 11.1% 8.1% 7.5% 8,530
May
2020		 13.3% 9.6% 11.9% 14,186
April
2020		 14.8% 10.8% 12.4% 14,309
March
2020		 4.4% 5.0% 4.6% 5,448
February
2020		 3.5% 3.5% 3.5% 4,220
January
2020		 3.5% 3.5% 3.6% 4,311

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩

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