Pakko: Six-month Trend Positive News For Arkansas

With last month’s unemployment rate falling below 7% for the first time in five years, UALR economist Dr. Michael Pakko says Arkansas has been on a roll in the past six months.

Appearing on this week’s edition of “Talk Business & Politics,” Pakko, chief economist for the college’s Institute for Economic Advancement, said breaking the 7% barrier is good news, but a larger view of the economy is crucial.

“The number itself is really symbolic, but the trend you’re referring to is something real and we really appeared to have turned a corner,” he said.

Claiming Arkansas had been “stuck in a rut” for nearly two years, economic data suggests more than a half-year of a reversal.

“[Since] last August, we’ve seen a series of very positive employment reports – the number of unemployed has come down every month since then and the number of employed has gone up,” Pakko said.

Since August 2013, Arkansas has seen growth of about 16,000 jobs overall, while the number of unemployed has fallen by 10,000.

Pakko noted that since the trough of the Great Recession, Arkansas has added approximately 37,000 jobs, but it is still about 17,000 to 18,000 jobs short of pre-recession levels.

Watch his full interview, which also includes a discussion of the minimum wage debate, in the video below.