In court: The fight between Gov. John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry over the governor’s executive order banning state government and contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers is headed to back to court today. The Associated Press reports a Baton Rouge judge will hear the arguments in the case as he decides whether to block Edwards from enforcing the anti-discrimination order the governor issued in April. The Democratic governor says his LGBT-rights protection order is a statement that Louisiana doesn’t discriminate, but Landry calls it executive overreach. Read the full story.
Rising: Initial unemployment insurance claims filed in Louisiana for the week ending Nov. 19 increased to 3,068 from the previous week’s total of 2,386, state labor department figures released Monday show. For the comparable week a year ago, 2,404 initial claims were filed. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,664 from the previous week’s average of 2,508. Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending Nov. 19 decreased to 23,066 from the previous week’s total of 23,117. Continued weeks claimed were above the comparable figure of 21,601 for the comparable week one year ago. The Louisiana Workforce Commission has more details.
Ringing it up: Shoppers put in a strong showing on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, The Associated Press reports. Holiday spending rose 9% Thursday and Friday combined, compared with the same two-day period last year, according to First Data. The bump was fueled by shoppers turning to online deals. E-commerce sales rose 10.8% for the two-day period, while sales at physical stores grew 8.6%, according to First Data, which analyzed online and in-store payments across different forms of payment cards from nearly one million merchants Thanksgiving and Friday. The data captures about 40% of all card transactions in the U.S. but excludes cash. Read the full story.
