Metroplan Report Notes Labor Force Decline, Employment Sector Shifts

Metroplan, the central Arkansas planning organization, released its “December 2013 Economic Review and Outlook” on Monday. The report indicates that the region’s employment has fared better than the state and national averages, and it highlights sector shifts in the local economy.

Towards year’s end, central Arkansas’ unemployment rate was 6.5% in the six counties that make up the Metroplan region. That was eight-tenths of a point below the state and federal jobless rates and an improvement over 7.9%, which the region experienced in 2010 and 2011.

“However, much of the local drop in unemployment owes to declining labor force participation, a sign that some individuals have opted out of the job market,” the review said. “Based on Metroplan population estimates and Arkansas Department of Workforce Services employment data, local job growth is running slower than local population growth.”

The Metroplan report also explores some “structural shifts” in the local economy since the Great Recession. Of note, central Arkansas has seen a net job loss in the information sector, in large part due to the downsizing from the sale of telecom provider Alltel. Wholesale trade also declined during the period.

Mining and construction, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services saw increases during the two-year period, but not as strong as the U.S. average growth. Manufacturing growth was anemic at both the regional and national average from 2011 to 2013.

Retail trade and education/health services were bright spots – seeing nearly 8,500 new jobs created during the two-year period. “While they are important players, recent economic literature suggests that ‘eds and meds’ will not be the growth-builders for metro areas as they were in the past,” the report said.

Other notes from the Metroplan review included:

• A comparison of census data of 1990 and 2010 reveals that young adults age 25 to 34 in Central Arkansas demonstrate a greater preference for living in the urban core rather than outlying areas.
• Regional housing construction was up marginally during the first half of 2013. Cabot saw the fastest growth in single-family housing construction with 35 percent growth and Benton had the second fastest growth in single-family housing construction with 16 percent.
• Central Arkansas is weak in patents per 100,000 workers, but other state capitals like Baton Rouge, La. and Jackson, Miss. share this trait, while university towns like Knoxville, Tenn. and Fayetteville hold a slight advantage.

You can access the full report at this link.