Revised numbers push Northwest Arkansas 2014 job growth to 10,000

Revised data increased growth by 7,000

SPRINGDALE -- Revised employment numbers show Northwest Arkansas added 7,000 more jobs last year than previously thought.

The new numbers show the area's largest employment group -- the trade, transportation and utility sector -- went from shedding 1,300 jobs to adding 3,000. The sector, which includes businesses such as Wal-Mart, its vendors and J.B. Hunt, employs one in five workers.

Employment numbers

Below are revised employment numbers for December 2013 and December 2014.

20132014

Total nonfarm219,300229,300

Trade, transportation and utilities49,40052,400

Professional and business services42,70045,300

Government32,00033,000

Manufacturing26,90027,600

Education and health services24,20025,000

Leisure and hospitality21,10022,100

Mining Logging and Construction7,9008,500

Financial activities6,8006,900

Other services6,5006,600

Information1,8001,900

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

On the web

To see a graphic on how the data revision impacted job growth in various job sectors, go to www.nwadg.com.

"Job growth is strong where we need it to be strong," Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Development at the University of Arkansas, told mayors and chamber executives from the region's five largest cities Friday at the Northwest Arkansas Council headquarters.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases monthly jobs reports that are revised each year. The first revision came in March. The federal agency's early numbers showed the Northwest Arkansas metropolitan statistical area added 3,000 jobs in 2014, growing less than 2 percent. The revised numbers showed it added 10,000 jobs for a 4.6 percent job growth rate, ranking 26th nationally.

Northwest Arkansas' metropolitan statistical area includes Benton, Washington and Madison counties in Arkansas and McDonald County, Mo.

Manufacturing went from losing a handful of jobs to adding about 700 and professional and business services added about 2,000 jobs.

"We expect in Northwest Arkansas that we are extraordinary," Deck said, adding maintaining a job growth rate of more than 4 percent consistently long term will be difficult to do. "I do expect we can maintain the 3 percent range, and that is where Northwest Arkansas needs to be to continue being a leader in Arkansas."

Northwest Arkansas leaders applauded the news, and Dana Davis, president and CEO of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, said the revised numbers help when recruiting companies to the area.

"It's about the story that can be told," he said. "Northwest Arkansas has a good story, and the new numbers make it even better."

"This is a fundamentally different story," Deck said. The early numbers showed Northwest Arkansas falling behind both the state and nation in job growth percentage. The state and national averages for job growth are about 2 percent. Deck said it was hard to believe Arkansas added jobs at a faster rate than Northwest Arkansas since the area traditionally boosts the statewide total.

Mike Harvey, chief operating officer of the Northwest Arkansas Council, agreed the early numbers didn't make sense.

"We've been scratching our heads," Harvey said. "Everything was running counter to what we've seen with our own eyes."

Deck also discussed the new population numbers the U.S. Census Bureau released last month showed Northwest Arkansas passed the 500,000 mark last year and is adding about 25 people a day.

The area's 1.9 percent population growth rate does not mean much as a standalone statistic, Deck said, but needs to be compared to the national growth rate of 0.75 percent.

"We are growing 2-1/2 times the rate of the country," she said. "That is a lot more information than just the percentage."

The job growth and population growth line up with what Fayetteville is collecting in sales tax, said Lioneld Jordan, Fayetteville mayor. He said the city's sales tax collection for the past two months is about $400,000 more than projected.

The growth points the spotlight on infrastructure needs, such as sidewalks, he said.

Jordan said the area is growing as a region, but the individual cities still work for growth.

"There is no mayor in this room that doesn't want to have the best city," he said. "Next, we want to make sure we are the best region."

NW News on 04/11/2015

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