Unemployment rates fall in metro areas
July unemployment rates in four Arkansas metropolitan areas fell below the state's unemployment rate, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.
Arkansas' unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in July and the national rate was 5.3 percent.
Northwest Arkansas had the lowest rate at 4.3 percent, down from 5 percent in July last year. The Little Rock metropolitan area had an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent, down from 5.8 percent a year ago.
Other July unemployment rates compared with July last year, were: Jonesboro, 5.2 percent, down from 6.1 percent; Texarkana, 5.4 percent, down from 6.6 percent; Fort Smith, 5.9 percent, down from 6.3 percent; Hot Springs, 6 percent, down from 6.6 percent; and Pine Bluff, 8.3 percent, down from 9.3 percent.
July unemployment rates were down from July 2014 in 359 of the country's 387 metropolitan areas.
-- David Smith
8 cities in state top 2Q economic index
The economies of eight cities in the Arkansas Tech Business Index outpaced the state's average for economic activity in the second quarter of 2015, the university's College of Business said Tuesday.
Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Fort Smith, Conway, Hot Springs and Mountain Home all had index ratings above 100, according to the news release.
The index is a measure of the economies of 18 Arkansas cities based on labor, housing market, construction and retail indexes. A number above 100 means a city exceeds the state average.
"The major cities in northwest Arkansas continue the pattern of leading the state in the economic recovery at a steady pace," Mike Willard, president and chief executive officer of Arvest Bank in Prairie Grove, said in a statement.
-- Jessica Seaman
State index follows U.S. markets down
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 8.50 to 314.78 Tuesday.
"After exchanges from Europe to Asia closed sharply lower overnight in the wake of more international economic volatility, U.S. stocks followed suit with the S&P 500 Index retreating by almost 3 percent," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group Inc. in Little Rock.
America's Car-Mart and J.B. Hunt Transport fell to 52-week lows, Williams said.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 09/02/2015