Arkansas GDP sees
3.5% growth for 2Q
Arkansas' gross domestic product -- the the total value of goods and services produced within the state -- grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the second quarter of 2017, the 14th-largest growth rate in the nation, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported this week.
The bureau is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"This is great economic news for Arkansas as we head into the final weeks of 2017," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a news release.
Hutchinson said more than 300 companies have moved into the state or expanded operations since 2015, producing nearly $7 billion in capital investments.
Nationally, gross domestic product increased in 48 states and the District of Columbia during the second quarter of this year, according to the government report. North Dakota's rate of growth, at 8.3 percent, led the nation, spurred by an increase in mining.
GDP growth in Texas was 6.2 percent; in Oklahoma, 5.5 percent; in Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, 3 percent; and in Louisiana, 3.2 percent.
-- Stephen Steed
Truckers seek delay
for electronic logs
The Owner Operator Independent Driver Association this week petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to give smaller trucking companies a five-year exemption from installing electronic logging devices in their trucks.
The association said the "ELD mandate" puts too much pressure on small companies, because many cannot afford to install and maintain the devices. The petition cites a safety administration estimate that says carriers will spend on average of about $584 per truck to install the devices.
"The exemption would also allow small-business motor carriers to maintain their current practices that have resulted in a proven safety record," said the report, attributed to the association's executive vice president, Todd Spencer.
Electronic logs do not change how long a driver can legally be on duty or driving. The main focus of the logs, the government has said, is to ensure drivers are off the road when their hours end.
-- Dalton LaFerney
State index closes
with a gain of 0.70
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 0.70 to 391.65 Wednesday.
Ten stocks rose, and eight fell in below-average trading the day before Thanksgiving.
Simmons First rose almost 2 percent.
Shares of America's Car-Mart fell 2.4 percent.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 11/23/2017