Nonfarm workers up 2.7% in state in July
The percentage growth in nonfarm payroll employment in Arkansas was second only to Oregon last month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Arkansas was one of 29 states and the District of Columbia that recorded increases in nonfarm payroll employment in July compared with the same month in 2016, the bureau said.
Oregon had the largest percentage gain at 2.9 percent. Arkansas tied with Florida and Nevada at 2.7 percent, the bureau said.
For Arkansas, the percentage gain means the state had 1,259,800 jobs last month, or 32,700 more than the 1,227,100 jobs in July a year ago, according to bureau data.
"Arkansas is clearly on the right track," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement Thursday. "It is great to see that our state's labor force is among the fastest growing in the country."
-- Noel Oman
Big River Steel gets $1.2B in refinancing
Big River Steel, the $1.3 billion steel mill at Osceola, announced Thursday that it has closed on $1.225 billion in refinancing.
The proceeds will be used to refinance a "substantial majority of its outstanding indebtedness and for general corporate and working capital purposes," the company said in a news release.
Dave Stickler, chief executive officer of Big River Steel, said the refinancing represents "another significant milestone" for the company, which melted its first scrap metal and produced its first steel in December.
Big River Steel owns and operates a scrap metal recycling and flat-rolled steel production facility on a 1,100-acre site close to the Mississippi River in northeast Arkansas. Over the past nine months, Big River Steel has provided steel products to over 120 customers in the automotive, energy, construction and agricultural industries, according to the company.
Lenders participating in the refinancing package included Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America.
-- Noel Oman
Arkansas Index dips 0.80, ends at 331.67
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.80 to 331.67 Thursday.
"Consumer staples underperformed today on concerns of price discounting pressures with food retailers as the S&P 500 Index closed lower for a second-straight day," said Leo Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 22.9 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 08/25/2017