LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Employment in Central Arkansas has hit a record high.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 360,000 people are working in Central Arkansas, with a significant increase in jobs over the last year.
"It's amazing. For the first time in history, we now have more people employed here in Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Conway than ever before," said Jay Chesshir with the Little Rock Regional Chamber.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics explained how Central Arkansas has seen an increase of more than 8,000 new jobs since this time last year.
"The fact that we're continuing to grow our employment while we continue to grow the labor base, is really, really good news," Chesshir added.
He also said that while it's positive news, he acknowledges it didn't happen overnight.
"Once you get it going, it really begins to feed on itself," he said.
Chesshir believes a few things have contributed to the job growth we've been seeing like the state of our economy and the Little Rock Love Connection Campaign.
"Every time you land a project like an Elopak, or an Amazon, or a Trex, or any of the number of other companies that we've been able to locate, not only are those new jobs coming, but the people that will have those new jobs create the need for others," he described.
So it then creates a trickle-down effect.
"You have an impact that goes beyond just that one job," he added.
Conway is included in the Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Jamie Gates with the Conway Chamber of Commerce said it has been encouraging to see the numbers increase.
"In Conway, we've seen job growth that has outpaced our population growth, which is record-setting for us, but it's also outpaced the national average and so that's kind of what we measure ourselves against," Gates explained.
However, the work doesn't just stop there. Gates and Chesshir both said they're focused on keeping up the momentum.
"The more that we can continue to build and invest in ourselves, the more likely we're gonna have other folks that will come here and take advantage of that," Chesshir said.
Chesshir also said people from 48 counties travel to work at the Little Rock port and the Clinton National Airport.