WORKERS’ COMP RATES TO DROP

Arkansas Insur-ance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bow-man announced new workers’ compensation rates to take effect July 1, 2005. The new rates are slightly lower on average.

“I am happy to see that overall rates in the workers’ compensation market continue to reflect a moderate decrease,” Commis-sioner Bowman said. “The assigned risk market had the greater decrease at 2.8 percent.”

The following rates represent “industry average” changes. Individual businesses may see increases or decreases in excess of the industry average when individual risk factors are applied for that particular business.

Loss costs – industry average change: Manufacturing, -3.3 percent; Contracting -4.8 percent; Office and Clerical, -2.8 percent; Goods and Services, +1.6 percent; Miscellaneous, +0.4 percent; Overall Change, -1.5 percent

Assigned risk – industry average change: Manufacturing, -4.5 percent; Contracting, -6.0 percent; Office and Clerical, -4.1 percent; Goods and Services, +0.2 percent; Miscellaneous, -1.0 percent; Overall Change, -2.8 percent.