by Michael Pakko | Dec 20, 2013
The latest employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services might appear disappointing on the surface, but there were some positive developments. Despite an unemployment rate that was unchanged at 7.5% in...
by Michael Pakko | Dec 12, 2013
Arkansas Taxable Sales (ATS) declined slightly in the third quarter, down 0.3% from the previous quarter (seasonally adjusted). Compared to the same period a year earlier, however, ATS was up 5.7%. ATS includes all items subject to Arkansas sales and use taxes, so...
by Michael Pakko | Dec 10, 2013
Still catching up with the backlog from the government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week released data for metro area employment and unemployment for both September and October. Not surprisingly, unemployment rates rose in October as federal workers...
by Michael Pakko | Dec 3, 2013
The latest data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shows a continuing upward trend in Arkansas house prices, albeit at a slower rate than the U.S. average. The FHFA’s “Expanded Data Indexes” showed that Arkansas house prices rose 0.5% in...
by Michael Pakko | Nov 22, 2013
This morning’s reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services were mixed, with contradictory signals from the household and payroll reports continuing to confound clear interpretation of the data. Due to...
