Pine Bluff area unemployment outpaces state and nation despite steady gains.
5.5%
Jefferson County unemployment
vs 3.9% Arkansas, 4.1% U.S. (April 2026)
$1,059
County avg weekly wage
vs $1,569 U.S. average (Dec 2025)
30%
Labor force inactivity
11,237 working-age residents inactive
3.0% vs 3.4%
National wage vs inflation
Wage growth now trailing inflation (Sept 2026)
This Month's Takeaways
01
Jefferson County's jobless rate still runs well above state and national lines.
At 5.5%, the county trails Arkansas's 3.9% rate by 1.6 points and the national 4.1% by 1.4 points, even after four months of improvement from a January peak. The gap suggests local economic recovery is real but lagging the state's broader momentum, a distinction that matters for any investment case built on statewide averages.
02
A third of the working-age population sits outside the labor force entirely.
11,237 Jefferson County residents are counted as inactive, not unemployed — a distinct category from the headline jobless rate. That reserve of potential labor may represent latent capacity for employers considering local expansion, separate from the tighter supply picture reported statewide.
03
Local average weekly wages trail the national figure by roughly a third.
December 2025 data put Jefferson County's average weekly wage at $1,059 against $1,569 nationally, with manufacturing ($1,311.57) far outpacing retail trade ($604.45) within the county itself. That internal spread signals a local economy still anchored in lower-wage trade and services even as manufacturing holds comparatively steady ground.
04
Manufacturing and healthcare anchor the county's job base amid a changed metro status.
Jefferson County lost official metropolitan statistical area designation in 2025, meaning standard BLS metro-level benchmarking no longer applies and county-level data is the best available substitute. Named employers including Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Tyson Foods, and Saracen Casino remain the visible anchors of current job postings, consistent with the county's manufacturing and trade/transportation employment concentration.
Local Economic Conditions
Jefferson County's unemployment rate sat at 5.5% as of the most recent available reading, well above both the Arkansas rate of 3.9% and the national rate of 4.1%, even after improving steadily from a 7.5% January 2026 peak tied to seasonal softness. Local wage data shows an average weekly wage of $1,059 against the U.S. average of $1,569, a gap that reflects the county's reliance on manufacturing and trade employment rather than higher-wage professional sectors expanding elsewhere in the state.
Open Threads in the Data
Jefferson County's wider unemployment gap against state and national figures signals a labor market still working through structural slack, not a tight-supply environment — a meaningfully different climate for expansion decisions than Benton or Washington counties, where wages and participation are climbing faster. With 11,237 working-age residents classified as inactive in the labor force (roughly 30% of that population), the available labor pool may be larger than headline unemployment suggests, a relevant data point for any commerce or development planning that depends on local workforce capacity. Current conditions suggest local economic development and commerce leaders evaluate whether underutilized labor supply, rather than labor scarcity, is the more pressing constraint on business investment decisions in this market.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the Pine Bluff, AR MSA metro — median advertised pay, its recent trend, and the number of active postings behind each figure. Jobs are grouped for readability and are not the same as the 10 sector classifications on the next page. For additional job detail contact WageScape.
Retail Trade
| Retail Sales Associate |
$26,632 |
↑ Moderate increase |
189 |
| Retail Cashier |
$26,013 |
→ Stable |
72 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$34,282 |
↓ Moderate decline |
29 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$85,800 |
↑ Moderate increase |
633 |
| Delivery Driver |
$29,617 |
↓ Moderate decline |
221 |
| Warehouse Manager |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$35,360 |
→ Stable |
690 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$66,896 |
↓ Moderate decline |
92 |
| HVAC Technician |
$59,729 |
↓ Moderate decline |
443 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$35,360 |
→ Stable |
1,038 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$35,360 |
→ Stable |
26 |
| Operations Manager |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$27,040 |
→ Stable |
12 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$32,722 |
→ Stable |
159 |
| Registered Nurse |
$97,074 |
↑ Moderate increase |
315 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$39,000 |
→ Stable |
36 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$151,975 |
→ Stable |
2,597 |
| Data Engineer |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$64,695 |
↑ Moderate increase |
1,401 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$70,653 |
↑ Significant increase |
309 |
| Marketing Specialist |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
| Business Analyst |
$91,374 |
→ Stable |
740 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$88,958 |
→ Stable |
500 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$54,792 |
↑ Significant increase |
197 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$98,234 |
↑ Significant increase |
14 |
Industry Snapshot · Pine Bluff, AR MSA
Advertised pay and job-posting trends across the whole metro economy, rolled up by employer industry — not just the bellwether roles above.
| Sector |
Median Pay Change |
Job Postings Change |
| Construction |
↓ −5.9% |
↑ +10.7% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +22.7% |
↑ +197.8% |
| Retail Trade |
→ +0.4% |
↑ +68.8% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↑ +5.7% |
↑ +353.1% |
| Information |
↑ +191.1% |
↑ +433.3% |
| Financial Activities |
↓ −36.7% |
↑ +420.0% |
| Professional & Business Services |
↑ +21.7% |
↑ +154.9% |
| Education & Health Services |
→ −0.4% |
↑ +61.0% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
→ −0.1% |
↑ +108.2% |
| Government |
↑ +90.5% |
↑ +553.3% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Data continuity concern
Pine Bluff's loss of official MSA status complicates month-to-month comparability going forward; government economists and commerce leaders tracking this market should expect to rely on Jefferson County-level BLS data rather than metro-standard releases.
Potential inflection point
Unemployment has declined for four straight readings from a 7.5% January high to 5.5% in April — whether that trajectory continues toward statewide norms, or stalls, will be the clearest local signal of whether 2026 marks a genuine turnaround or a seasonal bounce.
Worth watching
National wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, the weakest pace since 2021 — a dynamic that, if it persists, could compress the purchasing power cushion for Jefferson County workers already earning well below the national weekly wage average.
Emerging pressure point
Arkansas labor force participation ticked down 0.1 points in August after steady gains, suggesting a possible ceiling on statewide workforce expansion. Local economic development planning should watch whether Jefferson County's large inactive population moves in the opposite direction, offering an offsetting supply source.
Sources & Methodology
Pay and hiring data provided by WageScape. See every source cited in this report, with links →
Advertised pay reflects the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro, not survey or payroll data. Pay trends compare the current period with the prior period for the same metro and role. Sector figures group postings by the employer's industry classification; sectors with limited classified postings are marked as such rather than estimated. This briefing is independent of, and complements, official statistics from the BLS and state labor market information offices.
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