From a foreign window: Mayor Kip Holden announced plans today to meet with a delegation including the incoming Taiwanese Director General along with representatives of Taiwanese business interests on Tuesday at City Hall. Participating in the meeting will be Louis M. Huang, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston; Amos Chen, president of Opicoil America Inc., which is associated with the overseas company of Taiwan CPC Corp.; Vice President Jack Wu of Formosa Plastics Corporation Texas; and Vice President Alden Andre of Formosa Plastics Corp. Louisiana.
A weak week: Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by three this week to 885. The Houston-based firms says in its weekly report, issued today, that 659 rigs were seeking oil, 222 explored for natural gas and four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, 1,857 rigs were active. Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana was the big loser, down by four rigs to a total of 69. West Virginia, meanwhile, declined by three, and Kansas, North Dakota and Ohio each lost one. New Mexico and Pennsylvania gained three rigs apiece, Arkansas was up by two and Oklahoma increased by one. Alaska, California, Colorado, Texas, Utah and Wyoming were all unchanged. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
Help wanted: Initial unemployment insurance claims filed in Louisiana for the week ending May 16 decreased to 2,762 from the previous week’s total of 2,838. According to figures released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission today, initial claims were above the comparable week last year, when 2,343 claims were filed. The four-week moving average of initial claims decreased to 2,709 from the previous week’s average of 2,716. Continued unemployment insurance claims for the week ending May 16 increased to 22,894 from the previous week’s total of 22,873. Continued weeks claimed also were above the comparable figure of 18,517 for week ending May 17, 2014. The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed increased to 22,804 from the previous week’s average of 22,642. LWC has more details.
Editor’s Note: In observance of Memorial Day, the offices of Louisiana Business Inc. will be closed on Monday and Daily Report will not be published. Daily Report will return on Tuesday. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
