First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Aug. 20 increased from the previous week's total.
The state labor department figures released Friday show the initial claims rose to 4,984 from the previous week's total of 2,704. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 2,414.
The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 3,337 from the previous week's average of 2,811.