News
July Report Shows Jobless Rates Continue to Improve in Arkansas’ Metro Areas
Seven of the eight metro areas in or connected to Arkansas posted jobless rate declines in July compared to June, as the jobs picture in the state continues to improve following significant job losses that followed Arkansas’ first COVID-19...
Digital Original: Covid-19 pandemic shows more student interest in higher education
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. –The U.S. is officially in a recession but it’s far from a typical downturn because more people are heading back to school. “When the economy is weak and there aren’t other opportunities, that tends to boost college...
ASU, UALR receive $300,000 grants from U.S. Commerce Department
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding $7.8 million in EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants to universities across the nation to boost their capacity to support regional economic development...
Jobless Arkansans get $1B in U.S. aid
In 4 months of payouts, disbursement of benefits from state hits $271.3M The state has disbursed more than $1.1 billion in federal unemployment aid to the jobless in just four months, including millions of dollars in weekly federal supplements...
New Forecast Shows Arkansas Economy in Better Shape Than Expected
Arkansas economist Michael Pakko says the state hasn’t been as hard-hit by the economic effects of COVID-19, and it’s so far escaped the worst of what other states have experienced. But figuring out why is a difficult task. It...
April Report Shows Impact Of COVID-19 On Arkansas Metro Areas
Arkansas’ three largest in-state metro regions combined for 52,930 job losses in April compared with April 2019. The Hot Springs metro posted an April jobless rate of 15.3%, the highest rate among the eight metro areas in or...
State Revenue Report For May Higher Than Predicted, Though Lower Than Last Year
Revenue in Arkansas exceeded predictions but fell below figures from a year ago, according to the latest revenue report from the state Department of Finance and Administration. According to the report released Tuesday, the state...
Businesses Operate With Limited Staff As Workers Stay Home Making More On Unemployment
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas businesses are working with limited staff while some people remain at home collecting more money through state and federal unemployment benefits. "With a limited staff, we're only open five days a...
State’s Jobless Rate Surges To 10.2%
Unemployment in Arkansas shot up to 10.2% in April, ballooning to double-digits for the first time in more than 35 years. The jobless rate doubled from 5% in March, state officials announced Friday. All 11 economic sectors suffered...
Bentonville Ranked 5th Fastest-growing U.S. City; Northwest Arkansas Cities Lead Growth In State
Bentonville added more than 10 people per day between 2018 and 2019 and was the fifth fastest-growing U.S. city with at least 50,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Northwest Arkansas cities continued to lead the...