David Smith

Jobless rate up to 7.6% in state

Level is highest since fall 1988

Arkansas’ unemployment rate rose half a percentage point to 7.6 percent in October, the highest joblessness rate in more than 21 years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
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Ruling allows utility to exit Entergy pact

Savings forecast for state; Louisiana appeal expected

Entergy Arkansas Inc. can withdraw from the costly “system agreement” it shares with five other Entergy Corp. subsidiaries, federal regulators ruled Thursday.
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PB bank looking to snag bargains

Acquiring 5 or 6 banks in plans

Simmons First National Corp. will focus on acquiring banks with $200 million to $300 million in assets with the $65 million it raised in a recent stock offering, the Pine Bluff bank’s chairman said Tuesday.
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HP to start shift of 400 to Conway

Workers begin move December 11

Hewlett-Packard Co. will begin moving employees into its new 153,000-square-foot building on Dec. 11 in Conway, a co n f i r m a - tion that came Thursday, a week after news of the loss of hundreds of other jobs in the city.
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Medical testing business planned

Osborne firm to open in ’10

Jennings Osborne, the flamboyant businessman who made millions from his medical testing company, says he plans to open a similar firm early next year.
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Home-buying break fits state widely

40% of owners called eligible for $6,500 U.S. tax credit on a new home

More than 40 percent of Arkansas homeowners are eligible for a $6,500 federal tax credit if they sell their home and buy another one by June 30, according to an analysis of census numbers.
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Report: Turk plant is 15% in

SWEPCO work is told to PSC

Construction of Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s $2.1 billion coal plant in Hempstead County is about 15 percent complete — essentially on schedule — the independent consultant monitoring the project said Thursday in a regulatory filing.
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State sees uptick in auto titling

A steep decline in auto registrations through the first eight months of the year slowed considerably in September, primarily because of the government’s “cash-for-clunkers” incentive program, statistics from a Kentucky research firm indicate.
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Energy firm sets rate rise request

Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s request for a $17.8 million rate increase will cost the average customer $3.84 a month, according to testimony at the Arkansas Public Service Commission on Monday.
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LR bank posts $13.7 million loss

Metropolitan’s CEO predicts return to profitability in 2010

Metropolitan National Bank, the sixth-largest Arkansas-based bank, lost $13.7 million in the third quarter, the Little Rock institution said Friday.
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