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County amends budget for inmate dormitory, employee compensation ...


ARVEST REPORT: ARKANSANS MORE CONFIDENT IN ECONOMY


Fort Smith Times Record

Times Record Staff | 8:05 pm EST November 26, 2016


Arkansas consumers made large household purchases in the past six months and
anticipate making additional purchases now because they don’t anticipate having
any problem in acquiring credit in the near future.



Those are among the more noticeable findings from the third installment of the
Fall 2016 Arvest Consumer Sentiment Survey. This installment is the final piece
of the survey, conducted in August, and focuses on consumers’ attitudes
concerning spending, saving and debt.

Of those surveyed, 41 percent had made a major household purchase — such as
furniture, televisions and refrigerators — in the past six months, up from the
39 percent in March.

Additionally, respondents also see the next six months as a time to go ahead
with planned purchases, with 35 percent indicating plans to make a large
purchase in the next six months. That’s up from 30 percent in March.

Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Sam
M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas and lead economist
for the survey, said Arkansans set a new high level of optimism in the August
survey.

“Even as 57 percent of Arkansas consumers indicated that buying conditions were
good, 35 percent of respondents expect to make a major purchase in the next six
months,” Deck said in a news release. “This is the highest level of purchase
expectations since the Arvest Consumer Sentiment Survey began.

“Meanwhile, 68 percent of respondents have no plans to acquire additional
credit, while an additional 23 percent of consumers indicated that they did not
anticipate any difficulty acquiring credit they would need. Current savings
rates were down slightly from the previous period, but in line with what
consumers have been reporting over the past few years.”

For Arkansans planning on acquiring debt in the next six months, the largest
percentages were those seeking auto loans and credit cards at 6 percent, both
down from 7 percent in March. Those who plan to seek mortgage loans were 3
percent, down from 6 percent, and those who said they would seek student loans
fell from 4 percent to 3 percent.



“People seem to feel more comfortable with taking on new debt, something that we
have seen with increased interest in consumer loans and auto loans,” said Kent
Williamson, president and CEO of Arvest Bank in Springdale. “And new mortgage
loans for purchasing new homes, rather than refinancing current ones, are also
increasing. Regardless of the individual needs our customers have, we are always
ready to help find the solution tailored for their situation.”

Savings rates

From March to August, Arkansas consumers’ household savings rate decreased from
16.4 percent to 13.4 percent. The percentage of those planning to increase their
savings rate rose from 21 percent to 26 percent.

Arkansans’ consumer debt continued to align with that of their neighbors in
Missouri, including Greater Kansas City, and Oklahoma in most categories, the
report adds.

Arkansas respondents reported that 40 percent had mortgages in August, 4 percent
had home equity loans, 37 percent had auto loans, 51 percent had credit card
balances and 22 percent had student loans. Those who reported having no
outstanding debt were 34 percent, which is significantly higher than the region
as a whole at 28 percent.



The Arvest Consumer Sentiment Survey is conducted by the CBER, which also
evaluates the Arkansas data, with the University of Oklahoma’s Public Opinion
Learning Laboratory conducting 1,200 random phone and online surveys.

Arvest Bank’s sponsorship of this survey, which follows the model of the
national Survey of Consumers produced by the University of Michigan, is due to
its "desire to provide beneficial data for its customers and communities," the
release notes.

The Bureau of Economic Research at Missouri State University provides state
analysis of the Missouri data. The Steven C. Agee Economic Research & Policy
Institute, Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University, evaluates
the data for Oklahoma.

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