by Michael Pakko | Apr 16, 2021
The latest data on state employment and unemployment shows that Arkansas economy is continuing to recover from the downturn of 2020. Employment statistics showed gains in March and the number unemployed continued to decline. The unemployment rate dropped another...
by Michael Pakko | Apr 12, 2021
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic we haven’t been tracking home sales on a regular basis, but housing markets have been following a roller-coaster ride along with every other sector of the economy. Housing Market Reports from the Arkansas Realtors®...
by Michael Pakko | Mar 29, 2021
One of the most significant and unexpected features of the Arkansas economy during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the robust behavior of consumer spending. Despite sharp increases in unemployment and losses in earnings, Arkansas consumers maintained and even exceeded...
by Michael Pakko | Mar 29, 2021
Tracking the economies of states and regions is often limited by the availability of data. In the recent context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic dislocations, economists have found the development of new sources of information to be increasingly...
by Michael Pakko | Mar 26, 2021
Arkansas labor market conditions changed little in February. The unemployment rate ticked down by 0.1 percentage point to 4.5%, but both the household and payroll data showed declines in total employment. One year after the pre-COVID-19 business cycle peak,...