State rebound to take time, says economist

The economic recession will set the Arkansas economy back four years by some major measures, said Michael Pakko, the state’s economic forecaster.

At the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s release of its annual outlook for the Arkansas economy, Pakko said he expects the statenot to return to 2007 levels of employment, income and home sales until sometime in 2011.

“We’re on an upward trajectory, but it’s going to take some time to see recovery to the level we were at, say, two years ago,” said Pakko, chief economist at the Institute for Economic Advancement at UALR.

Unemployment will beginto fall in the first quarter of 2010, but slower than it rose this year, Pakko said ...