By the numbers: Louisiana could lose as much as $3.6 billion in homes, businesses and other infrastructure over the next 50 years if the state does nothing to curb coastal land loss, according to a LSU Economics & Policy Group study that will be released Wednesday. The study also projects additional losses of $7.6 billion in wages, consumer spending and supply chain disruptions that could spread throughout the U.S. because of the state’s importance in energy production, shipping, chemicals and other sectors. Investing in coastal protection and restoration projects would support up to 10,500 jobs per year and generate as much as $1.5 billion in additional annual economic output for the state, the report says.
Going up: Weekly unemployment insurance claims for the week ending Mar. 11 increased to 2,478 from the previous week’s total of 2,066, according to the latest Louisiana Workforce Commission data. For the comparable week a year ago, 2,654 initial claims were filed. The four-week moving average—a less volatile measure of claims—increased to 2,237 from the previous week’s average of 2,175. Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending Mar. 11 increased to 20,136 from the previous week’s total of 19,206. Continued weeks claimed were below the comparable figure of 22,851 for the comparable week one year ago.
New record: A year after Cheniere Energy’s Louisiana terminal shipped the first exports of U.S. natural gas from shale, cargoes from the facility are fetching higher prices than ever. Bloomberg reports the export price of liquefied gas from Sabine Pass rose as high as $7.52 per million British thermal units in January, topping last year’s high of $6.21, according to the Energy Department. Fifteen tankers sailed from the terminal in January and February, the most since commissioning began at the facility last year. Cheniere is starting up its third liquefaction plant at Sabine Pass, which chills gas so it can be transported by ship, and is expected to bring online a fourth one there later this year. Read the full story.
