Since its introduction months ago, Bentonville has remained atop the Arkansas Tech Business Index. That changed Monday when the index released its data compiled for March and showed another northwest Arkansas city on top.
It was a strong retail rating and a two large projects moving forward that pushed Fort Smith ahead of Bentonville to take the top spot of the index — in both the March and first quarter indexes — which rates the economic activity for 16 municipalities in Arkansas. The city had a rating of 108.36 for March and 106.32 in the first quarter. It also saw the largest increase in the first quarter, 0.98 points, and in March, 2.21 points.
“Fort Smith came on strong in the first quarter ATBI,” Marc Fusaro, associate professor of economics at Arkansas Tech and developer of the instrument for the ATBI, said in a news release.
Fusaro said a retail sales index rating of 116.7 in the first quarter, along with the permit approvals for the Marcy Clinic and Mill Creek Wastewater Pump Station, helped cover for two slow months of construction.
The top five index ratings were dominated by northwest Arkansas with Fort Smith, Rogers, Fayetteville, Springdale and Bentonville taking the top five spots in both.
In the March index, Fort Smith was trailed by Rogers, Fayetteville, Springdale and Bentonville.
Conway, 102.49, and Hot Springs, 100.85, were the only other cities with a rating above 100.
Little Rock came in at 98.53. The capital city’s rating has dropped two consecutive months from a 100.12 rating in January. Little Rock had below average ratings in both labor market, and housing and real estate during March, while its construction and retail indexes were above the state average.
Pine Bluff had the lowest March rating at 91.96. It was followed by West Memphis, El Dorado, Texarkana and North Little Rock.
Pine Bluff also had the lowest rating of the first quarter at 91.96. It was trailed by the same four cities, although in a slightly different order. In the quarterly numbers, Texarkana posted the second-lowest rating, followed by West Memphis, El Dorado and North Little Rock.
The ATBI ranks 16 cities in Arkansas based on the labor market, housing and real estate, construction and retail. An index rating above 100 shows the city is performing better than the state average from 2009 to present.
In the first quarter numbers, trailing Fort Smith’s 106.32 rating was Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville and Springdale.
Conway, 102.66, Hot Springs, 101.18, Jonesboro, 100.54, and Searcy, 100.32, were also above the state average in the first quarter. Little Rock was just below the state average in the first quarter at 99.44.
Labor Market
While its rating dropped more than three points, Springdale remained the highest-rated municipality in the labor market index. Springdale topped the index with a 107.38 rating. It was followed by Rogers, Bentonville, North Little Rock and Fort Smith.
Of the five highest-rated cities, Springdale and Bentonville had the lowest unemployment rates at 5.0, according to unseasonably adjusted numbers from the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.
Fort Smith, 6.5, and North Little Rock, 6.6, had the highest unemployment rates and largest unemployed worker pools of the top five cities.
Bentonville was third with an unemployment rate of 5.2. The city had the smallest labor force with more than 19,400, but also had the smallest unemployed workers pool with less than 1,000.
*According to the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, unseasonally adjusted
West Memphis posted the lowest rating in the labor market index in March, coming in well below the state average at 90.59.
The east Arkansas town was followed by Pine Bluff, Conway, Fayetteville and Little Rock.
West Memphis and Pine Bluff both had unemployment rates above 11 percent, at 11.6 and 11.2, respectively. The state unemployment rate in March was 6.9.
Fayetteville, 5.7, Little Rock, 6.3, and Conway, 6.7, all had unemployment rates below the state rate in March.
Little Rock boasted the largest labor force, 93,367, and employed workers pool, 87,517.
*According to the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, unseasonally adjusted
Housing & Real Estate
Fayetteville moved to the top of the housing and real estate index with a 109.51 rating in March. The northwest Arkansas town is part of Washington County, which sold 229 homes at an average price of more than $173,000 in March, according to numbers from the Arkansas Realtors Association.
Fayetteville was followed by Hot Springs, Rogers, Springdale and Fort Smith. Rogers was a large part of the home sales in Benton County in March, which totaled 367 homes at an average price of $185,589.
In all, half of the index’s cities were above the state average in the housing and real estate index. Bentonville, 105.57, Conway, 104.87, and Jonesboro, 101.38, were also above the state average.
Pine Bluff, which had the second-lowest labor market rating, posted the lowest rating in the housing and real estate index. Pine Bluff is located in Jefferson County, which had 22 homes sold at an average price of $92,629 in March.
Pine Bluff was followed by Texarkana, Russellville, North Little Rock and West Memphis. All five cities had ratings below 90.
Little Rock was one of eight cities below the state average.
The capital city posted a 96.23 rating in March. Although Pulaski County was among the top five in home sales, 337, and average home price, $181,560, its two largest cities performed below the state average in March.
While it dropped in other ratings, Bentonville remained atop the ATBI’s construction index with a 110.45 rating. It was followed by Texarkana, Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Little Rock.
In all, nine cities were above the state average. Jonesboro, 102.78, Springdale, 101.44, Rogers, 100.76, and Conway, 100.19, came in above the state average.
Construction
While it dropped in other ratings, Bentonville remained atop the ATBI’s construction index with a 110.45 rating. It was followed by Texarkana, Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Little Rock.
In all, nine cities were above the state average. Jonesboro, 102.78, Springdale, 101.44, Rogers, 100.76, and Conway, 100.19, came in above the state average.
While Little Rock posted the fifth-highest rating in construction at 103.22, North Little Rock helped show a stark contrast just across the Arkansas River in Pulaski County as it posted the lowest construction rating at 86.05.
North Little Rock was followed by Searcy, 92.05, Russellville, 94.48, El Dorado, 96.91 and Pine Bluff, 97.47.
In all, seven cities posted construction ratings below the state average.
West Memphis, 99.39, and Hot Springs, 99.99, both came in below.
Retail
Fort Smith soared above all other cities in the retail index with a 118.4 rating. The city was followed by Fayetteville, Little Rock, Rogers and Conway.
In all, seven cities came in above the state average in the retail index.The top five cities were joined by Springdale, 100.17, and Bentonville, 100.12.
On the bottom half, Texarkana posted the lowest rating at 85.66.
It was followed by North Little Rock, Pine Bluff, El Dorado and West Memphis.
Hot Springs, 98.82, Jonesboro, 99.41, and Russellville, 99.61, also posted below the state average.
Below is a table with full, sortable ratings from the ATBI in March.
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