LA Jobless Claims Increase

First-time jobless benefit claims rose last week in Louisiana.The Louisiana Workforce Commission said Friday that 4,033 people filed for initial unemployment payments during the week ending May 7. The previous week saw 3,955 initial claims.

For the comparable week ending May 8, 2010, there were 4,480 initial claims.

The four-week moving average of first-time claims fell last week to 3,863 from the previous week's 3,905.

Last week, those looking for work filed for an additional 43,524 weeks of benefits. That's down slightly from the previous week's total of 43,883.

For the comparable week of 2010, the unemployed filed for an additional 56,577 weeks of payments.