The Arkansas Tech Business Index has added Paragould as its 20th municipality, and the city debuted at the No. 17 spot on the list created by Arkansas Tech University College of Business.
Paragould begins with an index rating of 94.45; only five cities increased their ATBI rating from March 2016 to April 2016, and only five municipalities completed April with a rating above 100.
Bentonville (108.25), Springdale (105.20), Fayetteville (104.55), Rogers (104.28) and Benton (100.91) led the April ATBI.
April marked the 10th time in the 28-month history of the ATBI that Bentonville completed a month atop the index.
The ATBI provides a snapshot of economic activity around Arkansas. It encompasses a labor index, housing market index, construction index and retail sales index. The index is based around 100. A city rating above 100 indicates that the city is doing better than the state average from 2009 to the present.
Hot Springs (99.82), North Little Rock (99.03), Mountain Home (98.64), Van Buren (97.55), Conway (97.52), Fort Smith (97.06), Searcy (96.88), El Dorado (96.48), Russellville (95.84), West Memphis (95.81), Texarkana (95.18), Paragould (94.45), Jonesboro (93.52), Pine Bluff (92.48) and Little Rock (89.02) completed the ATBI for April.
Marc Fusaro, associate professor of economics at Arkansas Tech, is the developer of the ATBI.
