The Compass Report: Monthly Numbers by the Wire

The Compass Report is being expanded with the addition of a monthly report — presented electronically as a two-page PDF — on nine key sets of local, state and federal economic data.

The “Numbers by the Wire” monthly report includes the most recent information on area sales tax collections, building permits, employment rates and the housing sector. Also part of the report is a summary of economic conditions in the recent month.

“Some economic reports produced by government agencies and other public-sector institutions can be cumbersome and are not always practical to the person who simply wants a quick assessment of the economic world around them. It’s our goal with this two-page report to provide that quick assessment, ” explained Tom Kirkham, co-owner and publisher of The City Wire.

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, the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Phoenix Expo Trade & Event Center are also sponsors of The Compass.

The Compass, launched during the first quarter of 2009, is the only independent comprehensive economic analysis of the Fort Smith metropolitan area.

During the fourth quarter of 2010, The Compass Report noted that the economy in the Fort Smith region saw momentum weaken, primarily because of rising unemployment figures that offset moderate gains in sales tax collections.

Link here for the first edition of “Numbers by the Wire.”