Acadiana Business

Weekly claims for unemployment insurance rise

by Walter Pierce

First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending May 18, increased from the previous week's total.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending May 18, increased from the previous week's total.

The state labor department figures released Friday show the initial claims increased to 2,738 from the previous week's total of 2,327. Initial claims were below the comparable week a year earlier at 3,547.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,518 from the previous week's total of 2,488.

Continued unemployment claims claimed for the week ending May 18 decreased to 20,735, compared to the previous week's total of 22,517. The four-week moving average for such claims decreased to 22,353 from the previous week's average of 22,902.