LITTLE ROCK – The growth of personal income in Arkansas increased by 3.2 percent in 2017, which put the state at No. 16 nationally and tied with Tennessee for the largest increase among neighboring states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
“This great news from the BEA confirms what we already knew – that our economy is booming,” Governor Asa Hutchinson said today. “In 2017, we enjoyed a historically low unemployment rate, and more Arkansans were employed than ever before. Arkansans are benefiting from the record $150 million in tax cuts we’ve passed over the past three years. We have built an environment that has attracted new industry, encouraged expansion, and created new jobs.”
Arkansas’s 3.2 percent growth rate beat the national average of 3.1 percent, BEA reports. Arkansas’s growth rate, along with Tennessee’s (3.2 percent), leads all neighboring states, including Texas (3.1 percent), Louisiana (2.9 percent), Mississippi (2.3 percent), Missouri (2.1 percent), and Oklahoma (2 percent).
Arkansas’s earnings increased from $119 billion to $123 billion for an average of $40,791 per Arkansan.
