Roby Brock of Talk Business, French Hill of Delta Trust Bank, and Dr. Jay Barth of Hendrix College were on hand at the Clinton School Monday to discuss the Arkansas Consumer Confidence Third Quarter Report, a review of economic indicators in the state conducted by Talk Business.
According to the Report, the majority of Arkansas find themselves in a worse personal financial situation than they were in six months ago. In addition, three-fourths of Arkansans think jobs are hard to find.
Continuing the discussion of unemployment, 60 percent of Arkansas have lost, or know someone who has lost, their job in the last six months.
Barth, a professor of politics at Hendrix College, found an interesting connection between the outsourcing of jobs and Arkansans’ perceptions of overall national economic conditions. He also pointed out that Arkansans of different income levels see economic conditions differently.
People of different perspectives have “permanent and entrenched perceptions of national economic conditions,” Barth said.
Another interesting find was that citizens below age 30 tended to be more optimistic about state and national economic conditions, particularly in regards to looking into the future. African Americans and Latinos, traditionally the most economically challenged of the ethnic groups, are also optimistic about the future, according to the report.
Hill predicted that it could be the second quarter of 2014 before the state gets back to pre-recession employment conditions.
“This year has been characterized by extreme volatility,” Hill said.
A video of the panel discussion will be posted soon at www.clintonschoolspeakers.com.
This post was written by Clinton School student Veena Rangaswami (’13).