Bruce Westerman on Arkansas Unemployment and Vaccine Mandate

While Arkansas’s Unemployment rate continues to slowly decline many employers across the state continue to struggle to find employees. Bruce Westerman, Arkansas’s 4th congressional representative, recently spoke concerning this issue. Westerman say’s the rate of people available to work but choosing not to is in part due to the federal government stepping in and offering too much assistance. 

Vaccine mandates amongst employers are also raising concerns across the state potentially contributing to the current unemployment rate. Westerman says while he supports getting the vaccine, a mandate makes it difficult for employers to retain employees and potentially hire the help they need.

Arkansas’s unemployment rate held consistently at 4.4% from March until June before dropping slightly to 4.3% in July and 4.2% in August. The Federal unemployment rate however continues to remain above Arkansas with the latest data showing approximately 5.2% for the month of August.