New La. unemployment claims increase

First-time claims for jobless benefits were up last week. The state workforce commission says for the week ending Saturday, there were 3,512 initial claims. The week ending Dec. 25, which was cut short by Christmas, saw 3,411 filings. For the week ending Jan. 2, 2010, there were 3,618 initial claims. The four-week moving average of initial claims decreased to 3,854 from the previous week’s average of 4,269. Those still looking for work filed for an additional 50,407 weeks of payments. For the comparable week a year ago, the unemployed filed for 65,804 weeks of ongoing benefits.