Job growth in central Arkansas exceeded population growth until about 2010, according to a recent report by Metroplan, the planning agency for Pulaski, Faulkner, Saline, Lonoke and Grant counties.

Job growth resumed starting in about 2011, “but the rate of job growth slowed in comparison with population growth, verifying other evidence that local labor force participation dropped with the Great Recession,” said the report, “Metro Trends: Economic Review and Outlook,” released in December. “Job participation looks unlikely to return to previous levels.”