Arkansas over the next few years will likely see unemployment of between 3.3%-4%, consumer spending slow down and personal income level out at a pre-pandemic 4%-5% growth, economist Michael Pakko said during the annual Little Rock regional economic briefing last week.
These predictions would be affected by the resurgence of a new COVID-19 variant that prompts shutdowns and restrictions, and also if current supply chain disruptions worsen, said Pakko, the chief economist with the Arkansas Economic Development Institute.
Pakko reported the State of Arkansas faring much better the the rest of the country in most categories related to consumer spending. This comes in some part to Arkansas not opting to impose severe restrictions during the pandemic.
Pakko expects overall retail spending in the state to drop by 3.9% in 2022 and to rise back again in 2023 due to inflation and prices.
For unemployment numbers, Pakko reports 3.7% in October, however saying there is still much less workers than there was before the pandemic.
See the full article from Arkansas Business Online here.
