Request denied: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied Gov. John Bel Edwards’ request to lessen Louisiana’s share of disaster response costs from the March flooding that inundated north and central Louisiana. As The Associated Press reports, the state asked the federal agency to reduce its share of flood-related costs for the spring flood from 25% to 10%, the same amount it is paying for disaster costs arising from the August flood in south Louisiana. But in a letter Edwards’ office released today, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate says the adjustment “is not warranted at this time.” Louisiana already had been rejected once. The Edwards administration appealed, saying the reduced cost share could save the state $28 million. Fugate’s letter denied the appeal.
Going up: Initial unemployment insurance claims filed in Louisiana for the week ending Dec. 3 increased to 3,109 from the previous week’s total of 2,029, according to the latest figures from the state labor department. The weekly increase is due to fewer initial claims being filed during the previous week, which included the Thanksgiving holiday, the department says in a news release. For the comparable week a year ago, 2,414 initial claims were filed. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,648 from the previous week’s average of 2,547. Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week increased to 23,357 from the previous week’s total of 22,984. The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed decreased to 23,131 from the previous week’s average of 23,171.
Up and down: Louisiana lost one active rig this week, bringing the state’s total tally of oil and gas rigs to 47, according to Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The state had 60 rigs in operation one year ago. Around the United States, the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and gas surged by 27 this week, bringing the nation’s total rig count to 624. However, the U.S. count is still down from last year, when there were 709 active rigs for the comparable week.
