Help wanted: The state labor department says first-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Dec. 20 increased to 2,531 from the previous week’s total of 2,506. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 2,578 initial claims, officials announced today. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, decreased to 2,383, from the previous week’s average of 2,387. Continued unemployment claims for the week ending Dec. 20 increased to 20,837 compared to 20,322 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims increased to 20,327 from the previous week’s average of 20,059.
Here it comes: Being uninsured in America will cost you more in 2015. The Associated Press reports that’s because it’s the first year all taxpayers have to report to the Internal Revenue Service whether they had health coverage for the previous year, as required by President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. Those who were uninsured face fines, unless they qualify for one of about 30 exemptions, most of which involve financial hardships. Most people don’t realize penalties go up significantly in 2015. Only 3% of uninsured people know what the fine for 2015 will be, according to a recent poll by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Read the full story.
On the way down: Oil tumbled to its lowest level in more than five years today on speculation a global supply glut that has driven crude into a bear market will continue through the first half of 2015. Bloomberg reports West Texas Intermediate fell 2.1% while Brent slipped 2.6%, reversing early gains spurred by an escalating conflict in Libya. Fires have been extinguished at three of six tanks at Es Sider, Libya’s largest oil port. The tanks were set ablaze after an attack by militants, says National Oil Corp. spokesman Mohamed Elharari. Crude also fell as the dollar climbed to a two-year high against the euro, reducing the appeal of raw materials as a store of value. Read the full story.
