More than half of businesses expect that economic conditions in 2015 will be better than in 2014, according to a survey in the Little Rock Zone of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Three months ago, however, a little more than 80 percent of respondents were optimistic about the near-term outlook.
The information was published June 23 in the quarterly release of the Burgundy Books, produced by the St. Louis Fed. The Little Rock Zone includes the majority of Arkansas, except for the northeast part of the state. The population in the zone is approximately 2.5 million people, including the 710,000 who live in the Little Rock metropolitan statistical area.
According to the survey, unemployment is at 5.6 percent in the region and “two-thirds of managers surveyed said they are raising wages to attract and retain employees.”
The zone’s credit card delinquency rate increased to 7.7 percent, returning to its level in early 2014. This was the first significant increase since early 2009.
The residential real estate market in Little Rock strengthened; year-to- date home sales increased 8.5 percent and prices increased 2.5 percent from one year ago.
Transportation employment growth is at a decade high, up 4.8 percent from a year ago. According to the report, transportation employment is up 1.2 percent in Little Rock in the last year and 6.3 percent in Fayetteville. Manufacturing employment is also up 2 percent in Little Rock.
In the agriculture industry, farmers dealt with unusually wet weather delaying progress the northern part of the state and planted fewer acres of corn this year.
“We are way late on plantings,” said a central Arkansas industry contact in the report. “There will likely be a 30 percent reduction in corn plantings in northeastern Arkansas. However, in southern Arkansas the corn stalks are already up to the hip.”
The St. Louis Fed publishes Burgundy Books for each of the bank’s four zones: St. Louis; Little Rock; Louisville, Kentucky; and Memphis. Click here to see the full Burgundy Book report for the Little Rock Zone.
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