Still going down: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending July 23 decreased from the previous week’s total, The Associated Press reports. The state labor department figures released today show the initial claims fell to 2,880 from the previous week’s total of 3,062. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 2,510. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 2,994 from the previous week’s total of 3,016. Continued unemployment claims claimed for the week ending July 23 increased to 27,743 compared to 27,611 in the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims increased to 27,432 from the previous week’s average of 27,231.
Going up: There’s good news for the country and for Louisiana as the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and gas this week rose on both fronts. Louisiana gained two rigs this week, bringing the total number of active rigs to 46, up from 44 last week, according to Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes. One of the new rigs is in south Louisiana inland on water, and the other is on land. The overall breakdown is 24 rigs on land, 18 offshore and four inland on water. Nationally, the U.S. rig count increased by one to bring its total this week to 463, up from last week’s total of 462. The breakdown is 374 oil rigs, 86 gas rigs and three miscellaneous rigs. This time one year ago, there were 874 active oil and gas rigs in the United States and 78 in Louisiana.
Weighing the options: Houston-based LyondellBasell says it will build a large plastics plant in either Texas or Louisiana near the Gulf Coast. FuelFix.com reports the petrochemical giant, which recently expanded its plants in the Houston and Corpus Christi areas, is looking to build near its existing footprints. The aim is to use LyondellBasell’s increased ethylene capacity to produce 1.1 billion pounds a year of high-density polyethylene. The world’s most common plastic is polyethylene. The plant will produce the high-density polyethylene using a new technology to make plastics that don’t crack as easily. LyondellBasell won’t reveal project costs or the exact location, but the goal is to finish the project by 2019. Overall, LyondellBasell is planning to spend up to $4 billion in capital through 2020 along the Gulf Coast, mostly in Texas. The project would create about 1,000 construction jobs, and about 75 permanent jobs. Read the full story.
