Four of 18 cities rose on the Arkansas Tech Business Index in February, the university said Wednesday.
The business index provides a snapshot of economic activity around Arkansas, using cities' labor, housing, construction and retail sales data. Ratings above 100 indicate a city is doing better than the state average from 2009 to the present.
Economic conditions in Conway, El Dorado, Jonesboro and Searcy improved in February over January, according to the index, which is a project of the Arkansas Tech University College of Business and sponsored by Arvest Bank.
Fort Smith maintained its position atop the index for the 10th time in the past 14 months, with a rating of 104.98, but that was a 2.27-point decline from January, Tech said.
“This weakness in February is in line with the national economy, which was similarly weak in the second quarter growing only 0.2 percent in the first quarter,” Tech associate professor of economics Marc Fusaro, who oversees the index, said.
Behind Fort Smith were Springdale, with a rating of 104.41; Bentonville, 103.95; Fayetteville, 103.67; Rogers, 103.23; Conway, 102.36; Hot Springs, 101.40; and Mountain Home, 100.03. Rounding out the bottom of the index were Van Buren, 99.95; Jonesboro, 99.62; Russellville, 99.42; Searcy, 99.06; El Dorado, 96.81; North Little Rock, 96.74; West Memphis, 95.88; Texarkana, 95.51; Little Rock, 94.81; and Pine Bluff, 94.00.
More information on the business index, including access to the data used to compile it, is available at http://www.atu.edu/atbi/.