The economy in central Arkansas showed signs of changing trends in job sectors during 2022, Metroplan, the area’s planning agency, noted in a February report.
The chart compares job trends in selected sectors between the nation and central Arkansas, covering October 2020 to October 2022, the recovery period from the COVID-19 recession.
Total job growth for the Little Rock metropolitan statistical area was 6.2%, a little lower than the United States average of 7.5%. “However, since local jobs were less hard-hit by the recession of 2020 to begin with, the region’s post-recession performance has been creditable,” the report said.
The biggest changes were in the wholesale trade and especially the transportation-warehouse-utility sectors, which outgrew the U.S. average by more than double overall.
The biggest job loss occurred in local government, which lost 8.4%, compared with 3.6% growth at the U.S. level.
