LITTLE ROCK Arkansas' unemployment rate last month was 7 percent, a significantly lower figure than the national rate of 9.4 percent and a statistic that on its face suggests the effects of the recession have been less severe in Arkansas than in much of the country.

LITTLE ROCK The vast majority of the Arkansas' natural gas wells qualify for exemptions reducing their tax rates under a severance tax proposal to be considered at a special session later this month, according to state data.

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Business dollars may have been the fuel that led to Arkansas' revenue growth last year, according to a state Department of Finance and Administration official.

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas' first revenue report for fiscal 2006 shows that monthly tax collections are 3.5 percent or $10.3 million above the recently revised forecast, state budget officials said Tuesday.