Business News

Initial unemployment claims fall

by The Associated Press

The state labor department says first-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending March 28 decreased to 2,622 from the previous week's total of 2,723.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The state labor department says first-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending March 28 decreased to 2,622 from the previous week's total of 2,723.

For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 1,985 initial claims, officials said Monday.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, increased to 2,662, from the previous week's average of 2,646.

Continued unemployment claims for the week ending March 28 increased to 21,513 compared to 21,193 the previous week.

The four-week moving average for such claims increased to 21,144 from the previous week's average of 21,084.