First-Time Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Sept. 26 increased from the previous week's total.

The state labor department figures released Friday show the initial claims increased to 2,342 from the previous week's total of 2,307. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 1,887.

Accommodation and food services had the largest over-the-week increase of 26 claims. Initial claims for mining, which includes oil and gas exploration and extraction workers, increased from 111 to 123.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 2,270 from the previous week's total of 2,295.

Continued unemployment claims claimed for the week ending Sept. 26 decreased to 23,357 compared to 23,792 the previous week.

The four-week moving average for such claims decreased to 23,957 from the previous week's average of 24,456.