Population Growth Outpaces Job Growth
by January 30, 2006 12:00 am 73 views
About 1,000 people move into Northwest Arkansas every month, but only 560 new jobs are created here every month, said Jeff Collins, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas.
That was one of the subjects Collins was to discuss at the UA Walton College of Business’ 12th annual Business Forecast luncheon on Jan. 28 at the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center.
The big issue is how to transition out of the state’s dependency on manufacturing to other higher paying job sector. There are more government jobs in Arkansas than manufacturing, Collins told the Business Journal in an interview three days before the luncheon.
One way to push the state out of dependency on manufacturing is to increase education, he said. About 18 percent to 20 percent of Arkansas’ population has bachelor’s degrees, Collins said. But the state needs to increase that number to keep up with competitors not only in surrounding states but in Mexico, China and India.
“The higher education we have isn’t giving us the kind of results that we would like,” Collins said. “Retention and graduation rates need to be significantly improved.”
From 1995 to 2005, Northwest Arkansas had 60 percent of the job creation rate in Arkansas, Collins said. Twenty percent took place in central Arkansas, meaning the rest of the state made up the other 20 percent.
Collins said Fort Smith is an example of a once successful manufacturing city that now has to work hard to diversify its economy. He said Northwest Arkansas serves as a good example of job diversity.
“The truth is, as long as you have an economy that is overweight in manufacturing, you are always going to be at risk,” Collins said. “We need to start today to build the economy we want 10 years from now.”