Jay Hicks is helping grow Northwest Arkansas’ top two employment areas: professional and business services and trade, transportation and utilities.

He owns Simba Seven, a Springdale-based driver-placement and freight-brokerage firm. The company helps find drivers for about 50 of the country’s largest trucking firms.

Keeping up with growing demand in the trucking industry is prompting him to add 150 jobs in the next year to his 20-person workforce.

“We will continue to have smaller offices in other places across the country, but we are focusing on setting up a big home office,” he said. “I want to be part of building jobs in the area.”

Jobs associated with trade, transportation and utilities account for 23 percent of Northwest Arkansas jobs; professional and business services account for 19 percent.

Simba Seven’s new jobs will add to an already expanding workforce.

The Metropolitan Statistical Area’s labor force grew to 240,100 in October from 236,800 in October 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Northwest Arkansas' Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Washington, Benton and Madison counties in Arkansas and McDonald County, Mo.

Between October 2012 and October 2013, trade, transportation and utility jobs grew to 51,300 jobs from 48,600 in October 2012, a 5.56 percent increase, and professional and business services grew to 42,300 from 39,300, a 7.63 percent increase.

The number of unemployed people also grew in that time frame at 12,400, up from 11,800.

The unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in October; it was 5 percent a year earlier.

“I’m not too upset by the higher unemployment number,” said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas. “As long as the labor force continues to grow, we are moving in the right direction.”

The state’s labor force shrunk in October as the number of unemployed grew. The labor force was 1.32 million, down from 1.35 million a year earlier, and the unemployment number was 92,900, up from 89,200.

Deck said she will keep an eye on the local unemployment number.

“It it continues to rise, we will have to look at why that is happening,” she said. “Are people coming here and not finding jobs?”

Jayme Zehnder, recruiting manager for Simba Seven, said jobs are always available in trucking.

“Turnover is high in the industry,” she said. “There is always going to be a demand for what we do.”

Hicks said trucking has about a 300 percent turnover rate, and even after adding 150 employees, he still won’t be able to keep up.

“I could have 1,500 people working and still not meet the demand,” he said.