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Arkansas
For the month of October 2009, reported November 2, 2009
The state’s leading economic indicator has expanded for seven of the last nine months. However, the Business Conditions Index for October, based on a survey of supply managers, increased to a still weak 42.6 from 41.2 in September. Components of the overall index for October were new orders at 37.3, production at 34.2, delivery lead time at 57.1, inventories at 46.0, and employment at 38.4. Since the national recession began in December 2007, Arkansas has lost 3.1 percent of its jobs with 2.9 percent of the loss occurring since October of 2008. “Even though Arkansas’ unemployment rate has stabilized, based on our surveys over the past several months, I expect the state’s jobless rate to increase by another 0.2 percent by the end of the year,” said Goss.