LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas’ unemployment rate increased to 7.2 percent last month, fueled by multiple layoffs in the service sector, but it remained well below the double-digit jobless rate clobbering many other states.

The Arkansas Department of Workforce Service said Friday that the state’s rate increase two-tenths of a percentage point in June. It remains below the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent.

Nationally, unemployment topped 10 percent in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month. Michigan, hit hard by the struggling auto industry, reported a jobless rate of 15.2 percent.

“Arkansas’ unemployment rate followed the national trend and increased over the month,” said Kimberly Friedman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Workforce Services. “While total nonfarm jobs advanced, current economic conditions caused layoffs in multiple industries in the service-providing sector. Arkansas’ rate is still significantly lower than the national rate.”

Arkansas’ civilian labor force gained 7,200 jobs from a year ago to total 1,367,100.

Last month, educational and health services jobs increased by 3,300 – mostly fueled by demand for day care and home health workers, the agency said. Construction jobs jumped by 3,100, primarily because of new and expanding businesses during the busy summer season. The leisure and hospitality sector saw an increase of 1,100 jobs, thanks to the summer travel season.

Government jobs decreased by 4,100, which is mostly attributed to public schools being out of session for the summer. Professional and business services also lost 3,900 jobs on the month, the agency said.

Since June 2008, Arkansas has lost 26,600 nonfarm jobs. The state says that the majority of those are in the manufacturing sector, which has lost 20,100 jobs since last June.

The unemployment rate in Arkansas a year ago was 5 percent.