Doubling down: The LSU Alumni Association has announced it will double its annual contribution to the university’s Flagship Scholarship Program in the coming year to $300,000. “The doubling of our gift further illustrates the commitment of LSU Alumni Association to assure the very best and brightest future alumni choose LSU,” says Gil Rew, chairman of the association board, in a prepared statement. Hannah McLain, a Baton Rouge native and mass communication major who received one of the scholarships, says in a news release the funds “made LSU a viable option for me financially, but also opened up opportunities to participate in a study abroad program as well as undergraduate research.” LSU has more details on the announcement.
Four fewer: Louisiana lost another four rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas this week, leaving the state with 60 rigs total—down from 114 a year ago, when oil prices were nearly double what they are today—according to the weekly tally from Houston-based oilfield services firm Baker Hughes Inc. Across the U.S., the rig count fell by seven to 737. Of those, 545 rigs were seeking oil and 192 explored for natural gas. A year ago, 1,920 rigs were active in the U.S. In other major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas’ count dropped three and North Dakota was off by two, while Colorado and Utah each declined by one. Oklahoma and Wyoming gained two rigs apiece. Alaska, Arkansas, California, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia were all unchanged. 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 Nov. 28 increased to 2,554 from the previous week’s total of 2,404, the Louisiana Workforce Commission announced today. For the comparable week a year ago, 1,698 initial claims were filed. The four-week moving average of initial claims, which is usually a less volatile measure, increased to 2,490 from the previous week’s average of 2,462. Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending Nov. 28 increased to 23,143 from the previous week’s total of 21,601. Continued weeks claimed were above the comparable figure of 19,558 for the week ending Nov. 29, 2014. The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed increased to 21,692 from the previous week’s average of 21,571.
