Personal income growth in Arkansas - at 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2016 - bested the national average of 1 percent growth, in a report released on Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Earnings, which make up the largest contribution to personal income, were up 1.1 percent overall with a 1.7 percent uptick in Arkansas.
The state outperformed its regional neighbors, as well as most other states, tying for the 6th highest growth rate in personal income through the first quarter of 2016. Every state but Wyoming and North Dakota (-1.3 percent) experienced some level of growth in first-quarter personal income. Washington’s 1.5 percent garnered the top spot.
Agriculture contributed more than any other Arkansas industry to earnings growth in the first quarter of 2016 despite national farm earnings declining 3.5 percent. Mining and gas extraction was the state’s only sector with a decline in earnings related to personal income.
Arkansas’s first-quarter of 2016 outperformed the final quarter of last year and the same period last year. Arkansas 2015 personal income percent change from preceding quarter: 0.2 (I), 1.4 (II), 1.2 (III), 0.8 (IV).
More information including state and industry breakdowns is available from the BEA.
