The local unemployment rate continues to fall from its record high of 10.0% in April of 2020 at the height of pandemic concerns. The 3.7% figure represents a “non-seasonally adjusted” figure.

Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jamie Gates said that the falling unemployment rate is good news but that businesses will continue to feel the stress of a tight labor market.

“It’s good that our economy is getting back to ‘normal.’ But I think a lot of people may not remember that it was normal to have to compete for talent,” Gates said. “We actually had fewer people on unemployment in Faulkner County in April of this year than we did in April of 2014, 2015, and 2016. It’s a hot economy and we all have to get intentional about attracting and developing a talented workforce.”