Here’s some interesting speculation — and it’s only that at this point. A top state economist thinks the Arkansas unemployment rate is worse than figures indicate.

Eric Francis, in an article for Roby Brock, did an explainer on the vagaries of unemployment statistics earlier this week. But here’s a hard number that tells you a little something:

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… the state is currently paying out between $12 million and $13 million in unemployment benefits per week to some 49,000 people, says Friedman. That’s double from a year ago, when it was about $6 million a week to about 25,000 people.

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