Help wanted: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Nov. 24 decreased from the previous week’s total. State labor department figures released today show that initial claims decreased to 2,705 from the previous week’s total of 2,875. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 3,014 initial claims. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,818 from the previous week’s total of 2,784.
When it’s all blown over: The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season that spawned the destruction of Sandy and Isaac has come to an end as one for the record books. There were 19 named storms in what meteorologists consider an above-average year that tied as being the third-most active season since 1851. The season runs from June 1 to today, although tropical storms can and do sometimes develop outside the period bracketed by those dates. Even without a so-called major storm reaching the United States, there was plenty of damage. The Associated Press has the full story here.
Call me maybe: Approximately 85% of American adults own a cell phone of some kind, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And though cell phone owners—especially those who own smartphones—are “extremely attached” to them, the report says, “most don’t see that as too big of a problem.” In fact, 33% of them agree with the statement that a cell phone “saves you time because [it] can always access the information you need,” while just 3% agree with the statement that their phone “costs you time because you are constantly being distracted or interrupted.” The complete results from the survey of Americans and their cell phone habits are available here.
