News in brief

Wal-Mart lets 50 go

at its home office

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has laid off about 50 home-office employees in multiple departments, the company confirmed Thursday.

Laid-off workers will remain on the payroll for 60 days and have the option of applying for other positions within the company. Layoffs were made with the new fiscal year in mind, a company spokesman said.

Wal-Mart begins its new fiscal year Sunday.

"These decisions are never easy and we are committed to doing the right thing for those affected," spokesman Kory Lundberg said. "... These changes will help the company quickly adapt to meet the changing needs of its customers. As part of these changes, a small number of departments are eliminating some positions."

Eight to 10 departments were affected. Employees working at home-office campuses in Bentonville total about 20,000. Wal-Mart employs more than 2 million worldwide.

-- Chris Bahn

More time sought on

grain farmers' loans

Arkansas' congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture for another loan-repayment extension for farmers affected by the shutdown of Turner Grain Merchandising Inc. in August.

In a news release, delegation members said they asked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to extend the repayment date until the time Turner Grain's bankruptcy proceedings are completed.

The initial 90-day loan-repayment extension expires Monday.

"Given that losses may be as high as $50 million, the situation has the potential to be devastating to Arkansas, where one out of every six jobs is tied to agriculture. For these reasons, we respectfully request that the Farm Service Agency ... extend the [Commodity Credit Corp.] loan repayment date for those farmers awaiting payment from Turner Grain until bankruptcy proceedings are completed," the delegation members said.

-- Jessica Seaman

State index up 2.32

as 14 stocks gain

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 2.32 to 383.51 Thursday.

Fourteen stocks advanced and three declined.

America's Car-Mart climbed 3.5 percent in light trading.

Home BancShares and Acxiom each gained 1.7 percent on average volume.

Wal-Mart was up 1 percent with 6.5 million shares traded, below the average of 7.4 million shares.

P.A.M. Transportation Services fell 1.6 percent on average volume.

Total volume of the index was 23 million shares.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 01/30/2015

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