New offerings: In response to the Baton Rouge area’s growing housing market, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co.’s mortgage division has announced the opening of a mortgage loan production office in Denham Springs. According to a news release, the bank has decided to expand its loan production offices to 200 South Range Avenue, Suite C. The office will be led by two mortgage originators and house approximately 10 operational staff members, the release says. “We see the growth in Livingston Parish as an opportunity to serve the area with new home construction needs, as well as assisting families looking to buy a home,” says Mortgage Division President Jeff Rousseau in a prepared statement.
Job cuts: State labor officials say potential layoffs at an alumina plant in Gramercy could hit 444 in May. The Associated Press reports the Tennessee-headquartered Noranda Alumina had first told the Louisiana Workforce Commission that it expected to layoff 113 workers this month. The company later said it was pushing back the possible layoffs until May. The initial report of 113 layoffs was for non-union employees, and on Wednesday the LWC put the total at 444, with union jobs included. The company has cited a decrease in orders for its product due to a shutdown of the New Madrid Smelter in Missouri as a big reason for the potential job cuts. The company stresses that it still hopes to avoid layoffs with cost reductions and expansion of its capacity to produce non-metallurgical alumina.
Better than expected: Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits last week rose less than economists had forecast as the number of dismissals stayed consistent with a firm labor market, Bloomberg reports. Initial jobless claims increased by 6,000 to 265,000 in the week ending March 19, according to a Labor Department report released this morning. The median forecast of 42 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 269,000. Hiring managers are demonstrating a preference to maintain and build staff as domestic demand continues to hold up. Tighter employment conditions are helping to buoy the economic outlook in the face of sluggish overseas growth. Read the full story.
Editor’s note: The offices of Business Report will be closed Friday in observance of the Good Friday holiday and Daily Report will not be published. Daily Report will return on Monday. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
