Flipping the script: Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by 22 this week to 932 amid depressed oil prices. But in Louisiana, the rig count increased by two to 74. The week previous, Louisiana gained five rigs, meaning the state has bucked a national trend of decreasing rigs for two straight weeks now. Baker Hughes says 703 rigs were seeking oil and 225 explored for natural gas this week. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, 1,861 rigs were active. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
Help wanted: Initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending April 18 decreased to 2,789 from the previous week’s total of 3,062, the Louisiana Workforce Commission announced this afternoon. However, initial claims were above the comparable figure of 1,951 for the week ending April 19, 2014. The four-week moving average of initial claims increased to 2,693 from the previous week’s average of 2,676. Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending April 18 increased to 22,248 from the previous week’s total of 22,004. Continued weeks claimed were above the comparable figure of 18,996 for week ending April 18, 2014. The LWC has more details.
Calling it quits: The head of a Louisiana agency that oversees more than $250 million in federal and state housing programs has left the job amid harassment claims. The Associated Press reports Frederick Tombar III resigned Wednesday from his $260,000-a-year job as executive director of the Louisiana Housing Corporation. Meghan Parrish, spokeswoman for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Division of Administration, says the office was notified of “allegations of harassment” because it manages human resources for the housing agency. She says an internal investigation of the claims ended when Tombar resigned. In his resignation letter, Tombar didn’t mention the allegations, but rather said he was returning to the private sector “for the good of my family.”
