BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending May 24 have increased from the previous week's total.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission said Friday that initial claims rose to 2,985 from the previous week's total of 2,343. There were 3,386 initial claims during the comparable week in 2013.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,453 from the previous week's average of 2,266.

Continued unemployment weeks claimed for the week ending May 24 increased to 18,948 compared to 18,517 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims increased to 18,882 from the previous week's average of 18,815.

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