story by Kim Souza
ksouza@thecitywire.com
The revised story around job creation in Northwest Arkansas is a positive one, with 10,000 new jobs created in 2014, according to Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas.
The data revisions were discussed at a press conference conducted Friday (April 10) by the Northwest Arkansas Council and attended by area mayors and chamber of commerce officials.
Deck also confirmed that the population data revisions show the area is growing at1.9% annually or by 25 people a day. This is 2.5 times faster than the rest of the country’s 0.75% average.
While growth has slowed from the pre-recession period, but the engines are ginning again at a nice pace, according to Deck. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest revision of the local metro area shows a 4.5% increase in jobs last year putting NWA in the top 30 job growth metros in the country.
“We are seeing that Northwest Arkansas looks like its old self again,” Deck said. “It’s an economy where our key industries drive our construction growth, our financial markets and everything else in Northwest Arkansas. You could not have concluded that with the old data.”
The original data indicated new jobs rose by just 3,000 in 2014, the revision shows 10,000 new jobs were created last year, which is more inline with what economists and local city officials saw on the ground.
The region’s largest employment sector — trade, transports and utilities — experienced at wide swing from 1,300 jobs lost as first reported to 3,000 new jobs noted in the March revision.
Another important sector that showed positive growth were the professional service sector which added 2,000 jobs in 2014. Manufacturing also grew a few hundred jobs as opposed to jobs lost in the pre-revised numbers.
“This is great news to share,” said Mike Malone, president of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
Deck said the labor force growth data has been somewhat muted through 2014. She expects there will be further revisions to that as well, noting that internal data seems to support a healthier growth than what the original numbers indicate.
“We have beem growing at rates you can only dream about for several years. When these original data came out we were scratching our head about it because everything we have been experiencing has been running counter to what we were seeing with our own eyes,” Deck told the group.
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin asked if perhaps the region would be better served to collect its own data and rely more heavily on that that what comes in from the government.
Deck said there is no need to throw out the national data despite the ongoing revisions that come with it. She said if anything the public needs to know that the first numbers, deemed “preliminary” are likely the least reliable set and with each revision the numbers are likely to be more accurate.
She said the revised data shows growth above 4% which is tough to sustain. She expects the region will likely average about 3% annual job growth in the next few years. A larger concern for Deck and Fayetteville Mayor Lionel Jordan is that wages are not growing fast enough.
“I still have a concern on downward pressure on wages. I remain concerned that we live in a competitive environment and we are not doing everything we can do be competitive where wages are concerned,” Deck said.
Jordan said more needs to be done to raise the bottom wages so citizens can have a shot at home ownership and actually afford medical care. He said Fayetteville continues to grow both south and west with added infrastructure and quality of life amenities. The one thing lacking for many he said is earning an affordable living wage.
Mike Harvey said work the Council has done with local chambers of commerce to survey area businesses the past two year has given them tremendous insight. He said there are good stories to share but a major challenge remains in having the right workforce to staff the growth of local businesses.
“When I moved here in 2011 I looked at the 5-year plan and thought adding 19,000 could be a stretch. In just four years we have exceeded that goal by 4,000,” he said.