First-time Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Jan. 4 increased from the previous week's total.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission said Friday that initial claims rose to 2,242 from the previous week's total of 1,721. There were 3,253 initial claims during the comparable week in 2013.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 2,320 from the previous week's average of 2,549.

Continued unemployment weeks claimed for the week ending Jan. 4 increased to 24,443 compared to 23,648 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims increased to 24,092 from the previous week's average of 24,021.

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