The manufacturing sector saw considerable growth in Arkansas in the second quarter, up 1.4 percent from a year ago, while transportation saw a slight increase, 0.1 percent, according to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ Burgundy Book.
The increase in manufacturing was realized because of a sizable increase in durable goods employment (2.1 percent) and nondurable goods (0.8 percent).
The Little Rock MSA saw a 0.7 percent increase in manufacturing employment, while Fayetteville saw a 0.9 percent decrease.
“Profitability is up in 2014 for all lines of business,” a northwest Arkansas manufacturer told the Burgundy Book. “We’ve hired four new employees but have no plans for expansion of plant. We are concerned about health care affordability moving forward.”
Many manufacturing and transportation contacts told Burgundy Book they had “an unwillingness to expand operations in light of heavily increased health care costs. Manufacturing contacts also noted difficulty in finding skilled or readily trainable labor.”
Other highlights included:
Transportation was down 1.2 percent in Little Rock and 3.4 percent in Fayetteville. That’s compared to 2.7 percent growth seen across the country.
Aggregate weekly manufacturing hours among Arkansas production employees remained below the national average with no sign of improvement.
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