LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe said Tuesday that the state’s move up the ranks of per capita income during his time as governor shows Arkansas is going in the right direction.
Also Tuesday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data that showed a small uptick in Arkansas’ unemployment rate in August.
Little Rock businessman Jim Keet, who is facing Beebe in the Nov. 2 election, said Beebe “should not be seeking political credit for the state of the economy while Arkansas is losing jobs and personal income is declining.”
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Monday released its final per capita income state-by state ranking for 2009. Arkansas is 44th.
It is Arkansas’ highest rank in 80 years, according to the bureau. The state’s ranking has increased four places in three years.
“Arkansas’ continued climb in per-capita income rankings shows that in the face of the worst recession of our lifetimes, Arkansas has continued to see progress while other states have not fared as well,” Beebe campaign spokesman Anne Hughes said.
Total personal income divided by population is per capita income.
The state’s rank increased between 2008 to 2009 even though the personal income in Arkansas decreased. In 2009, per capita personal income in the state was $32,423, down from $32,695 in 2008. Despite falling $272, Arkansas moved from 46th to 44th.
Bureau economist David Lenze said the ranking rose because per capita income dropped less than in other states and in the national average.
“Arkansas had one of the smallest declines in 2009,” he said.
Keet campaign spokesman Richard Atkinson said it was still a decline and attributed it to the business climate in the state.
“Governor Beebe is speaking about recent improvements, but the fact is we did not improve; per capita personal income went down,” Atkinson said. “The business climate of the state plays a role in how the economy performs, and our business climate should be improved.”
National per capita personal income went through a more dramatic decline from 2008 to 2009.
It dropped from $40,673 in 2008 to $39,626 in 2009, according to the bureau. The more than $1,000 drop brought the national average within $168 dollars of the 2007 average.
“I don’t think anybody, including Jim Keet, would deny that our country is in the middle of the worst economic times since the Great Depression,” Beebe campaign spokesman Zac Wright said. “Arkansas has weathered the storm better than other states.”
An original data estimate released earlier this year ranked Arkansas 45th, but when exact numbers were calculated the state moved up a spot, according to the bureau.
Ranked below Arkansas are South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, Idaho, Utah and Mississippi.
When Beebe came into office in 2007, the per capita personal income was $31,498. At that time the bureau ranked Arkansas 47th.
Since 1929 Arkansas’ rank has ranged from 45th or 49th nationally. Income in Alaska and Hawaii was not ranked until 1949.
The District of Columbia is included in the rankings.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics release showed a 7.5 percent unemployment in Arkansas. It found that unemployment in Arkansas increased by 0.1 percent - or 10,900 jobs - from July to August. The national unemployment rate in August was 9.6 percent.
The annual state unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in 2007, compared with 4.6 percent nationally.
“Governor Beebe has been touting his success at economic development, but the numbers released today show that his policies are not working,” Keet said in a news release.
An analysis performed in early September by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette found 26,700 jobs have been lost since Beebe took office.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 09/22/2010