The Compass Report: August 2011 Numbers by the Wire

Sales and hospitality tax collections continue to show signs of recovery, especially in the urban areas of the region, according to the August report of Numbers by the Wire.

Home sales posted gains in August, but the residential real estate market remains tepid with sales lagging compared to 2010. As in many U.S. regions, unemployment remains a problem in the Fort Smith region. The unemployment rate in August was 7.9%, unchanged from August 2010.

The number of unemployed in the Fort Smith metro area was an estimated 10,531 in August, down from a revised 11,175 in July, and down compared the 10,585 unemployed in August 2010. The number of employed in the metro area during August was 123,165, up compared to the 123,065 employed in the area during July, and up 0.21% compared to August 2010.

Numbers by the Wire — a component of The Compass Report — is a monthly report presented electronically as a two-page PDF on nine key sets of local, state and federal economic data. (For those unable to open a PDF, the report is also included below in jpeg images.)

Funded and managed by The City Wire and presented by Benefit Bank, The Compass Report is a quarterly regional economic report with data collection and analysis handled by Jeff Collins, a nationally known economist based in Springdale and co-founder of Streetsmart Data Services. Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce also help sponsor the report.

Link here for the August 2011 edition (PDF) of Numbers by the Wire.