March 2017

Northwest Arkansas is on pace to be one of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas within three years, an analysis by the Northwest Arkansas Council shows.

The annual analysis is conducted after the U.S. Census Bureau releases new population estimates. The group of Census Bureau estimates, which showed the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA (Northwest Arkansas) had 525,032 residents as of July 1, 2016, was made public today.

A Northwest Arkansas survey showed employers plan to hire more workers over the next three years than they reported in any of four previous annual inquiries.

The 477 employers participating in the 2016 Employer Retention and Expansion (ERE) survey expect to hire 3,621 workers over the next three years. It’s considered a good economic sign when employers expect to hire more people in future years.