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Summary of Findings
•The largest occupational families in the
Texarkana region are office and administrative support; sales and related; and transportation and material moving. The largest sources of growth are expected to be food preparation; healthcare support; and management. Office and administrative support occupations are expected to lose jobs over the next 5 years. • Prior to the Pandemic, the occupational families that gained the most jobs were educational instruction and library; management; and business and financial operations. The occupational families that lost the most jobs were office and administrative support; installation, maintenance, and repair; and sales and related.
During the Pandemic, the hardest hit occupations were food preparation and serving; office and administrative support; and sales and related. • Occupational LQs show the share of occupational employment relative to the nation. LQs above 1 indicate a higher share of occupational employment in comparison to the nation. In the Texarkana region, the occupational LQs that are above average are installation, maintenance, and repair and food preparation. The detailed occupations with the highest LQs reflect the region’s forest and forest products cluster, various production occupations related to the manufacturing that takes place in the region, and maintenance occupations to maintain the related machinery. • The skill level of occupations is determined by the education required for entry, the experience required, and the level of on-the-job training.
Low-skill jobs are those that require a high school diploma or less, no experience, and minimal on-the-job training. Middle-skill jobs require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree. High-skill jobs require a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Texarkana region, the share of middle-skill jobs is slightly larger than that of the state and nation while the share of high-skill jobs is somewhat smaller. • Since 2008, the number of low and middleskill jobs had declined but is expected to grow over the next 5 years. The number of highskill jobs has grown significantly in recent years and is expected to continue to grow. • The high-skill occupations that are highest in-demand include nurses and various management; business and operations; and education and training occupations. With the exception of substitute teachers, all of these occupations pay more than $20 an hour and three meet the threshold for high wage with median hourly earnings above $45. More than half of the occupations face a high degree of retirement exposure but few face above average risk of automation. • The middle-skill occupations that are highest in-demand include various first-line supervisors; maintenance and repair occupations; and skilled trades and production-related occupations.
With just a few exceptions, these occupations earn more than $15 an hour. The workers in these occupations tend to be younger with fewer workers nearing retirement and more face above average risk of automation. • The wage level of occupations is determined by the average hourly earnings. Low-wage jobs are those that have average hourly earnings less than $15.00. Middle-wage jobs have average hourly earnings between $15.00 and $45.00.
High-wage jobs have average hourly earnings more than $45.00. The Texarkana region has a relatively high share of low-wage jobs in comparison to the US and a relatively low share of high-wage jobs. About 60 percent of jobs pay, on average, between $15 and $45 per hour. • Since 2008, the number of middle-wage jobs declined while the number of high and lowwage jobs has increased. Over the next five years, the number of middle-wage jobs is expected to continue to stay relatively flat while lowwage and high-wage jobs continue to grow.
•The region has very few high-wage, highdemand jobs. Only six occupations meet the threshold for high wage—these are airline pilots, nurse practitioners; financial manager; lawyers; pharmacists; and physical therapists. All of these jobs face lower than average automation risk. Due to the small number of workers in these occupations, retirement exposure cannot be determined except for lawyers (high risk) and pharmacists (not too bad). • The middle-wage jobs that are highest in demand include truck drivers and other transportation/warehouse workers, various office and administrative workers, and nurses.
higher than average automation risk. • Job posting activity, a real-time indicator of workforce demand, has recovered to its pre-
Pandemic levels. Since September 2020, the number of unique job postings has been above 5,000 and progressively increasing until a seasonal drop-off in June. In May 2021, there were more job postings than unemployed people. The companies with the most unique job postings were Christus Health, Wal-Mart, and
General Dynamics. The top occupations were truck drivers, registered nurses, and customer service representatives. The top industries were retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and health care and social assistance.
