Arkansas economy continues upward climb in per-capita income ranking

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’s economy continued its upward climb today with the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) release of finalized 2009 per-capita personal income rankings, moving Arkansas up to 44th. This ranking places Arkansas at its highest point since BEA began collecting per-capita income data in the 50 years the federal government has kept those statistics.
 
“While I’m not happy to be 44th, Arkansans can be proud we are making progress in the right direction.  Arkansas continues to see progress in the midst of the worst national economic downturn of our lifetimes,” said Governor Beebe. “Arkansas has seen 25,000 new jobs announced in the past four years, but I won’t stop working to increase the jobs and wages of our people.”
 
In 2006, Arkansas ranked 48th in the nation for per-capita personal income. In three and a half years under Governor Beebe’s leadership, Arkansas has moved ahead of four other states at a rate much higher than the national average (16.07% to 9.23%).