Getting higher: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Nov. 5 increased from the previous week’s total, The Associated Press reports. State labor department figures released today show the initial claims rose to 2,704 from the previous week’s total of 2,499. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 1,807. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,580 from the previous week’s average of 2,543. Continued unemployment claims claimed for the week ending Nov. 5 decreased to 23,516 compared to 23,784 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims decreased to 23,669 from the previous week’s average of 23,727.
Next generation: The Louisiana Small Business Development Center is rolling out a new statewide initiative today that aims to educate the millennial generation on entrepreneurship and the economy. The initiative is being held this week in conjunction with National Entrepreneurship Month and Global Entrepreneurship Week 2016, which begins today and ends on Sunday. Panels emphasizing entrepreneurship and the economy will take place in cities throughout Louisiana. On Wednesday, the LSBDC at Southern University will host a seminar that examines how millennials earn, spend and save money. The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Louisiana Small Business Development Center, 616 Harding Blvd.
More to offer: ExxonMobil is expanding its Beaumont, Texas-based polyethylene chemical plant, adding a new unit and increasing the facility’s capacity by 65%, FuelFix.com reports. The company announced the expansion today. The company estimates the work will create 1,400 construction jobs and 40 permanent positions. A growing demand for high performance plastics plus an abundant supply of cheap U.S. shale gas, the feedstock for plastics, is motivating the expansion, ExxonMobil says. Expansion has already started. The new unit will begin operations in 2019. Read the full story.
