FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is seen as a strong measure for the area’s economy compared to other regions of similar size and population.
Representatives at the University of Arkansas along with the Northwest Arkansas Council presented the annual report Thursday (Oct. 8).
It will come as no surprise that this year’s report is showing COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact. Business sectors such as restaurants, hotels, entertainment and transportation continue to struggle.
“These are the sectors that I am concerned about and we should all be concerned about," said Mervin Jebaraj, Director, Center for Business and Economic Research Walton College of Business. "These are the sectors that really need the government to step up and provide additional stimulus and additional grants."
In March, businesses completely shut down, and while there was a spike in consumer spending this was mainly attributed to people rushing to the grocery store to stock up on food, and let’s not forget toilet paper.
“Here in this recession you're seeing consumers spending less money on durable goods but a lot more compared to previous recessions," Jebaraj said.
Stimulus money and unemployment insurance played an important role in the economy.
“The $600 unemployment boost went a really long way to muted some of the effects of the pandemic and the recession that it caused and since it’s gone away we’re starting to deal with those issues all over again," Jebaraj said.
It’s not all bad news, recruitment efforts to attract people to work and live in Northwest Arkansas thanks to the housing market, quality of life and cost of living is going well.
“Places like Northwest Arkansas tend to be more attractive now than it was 15 years ago, and I think Aaron and his team would agree we’ve actually gotten a lot more interest recently as we started reaching out to people," said Mike Harvey, Northwest Arkansas Council, COO.
According to the report, the vast majority of people still don’t feel comfortable going out to venues, shopping centers and restaurants.
The state of the economy is unlikely to change anytime soon, not until the pandemic is under control.
Economists believe the data for the last quarter of 2020 will be slightly better, but it may take some time before we reach pre-pandemic levels.