LITTLE ROCK — A state economist says Arkansas is in position to be ahead of the pace as the nation recovers from the worst economic recession since the 1930s.
Chief Economist for the Institute for Economic Advancement Michael Pakko said Wednesday that Arkansas personal income, housing prices, taxable sales and employment have been stronger than in the nation as a whole. And the state has not seen the foreclosures that has plagued areas in the rest of the country.
Pakko says that the state is on track to regain the 50,000 jobs it lost by the middle of 2012. But, he says that the peak in unemployment in Arkansas is likely still ahead and should top out at 8 percent. That’s still 2 percentage points lower than the projection for the national unemployment rate.