Announcing: Metro Councilwoman Erika L. Green will officially announce her campaign for the District 5 council seat at 6 p.m., on June 14, at Any Occasions Banquet Hall, 10565 Florida Blvd. The late State Rep. Ronnie Edwards, who died earlier this year, tapped Green to fill the seat on an interim basis after she was elected to the Louisiana Legislature late last fall. In a news release, Green says she considers the opportunity to serve the district as a way to give back to a community she describes as “ripe for economic and residential development.” Also, attorney Sal Christina announced earlier today his candidacy for Metro Council District 12, which is currently represented by John Delgado. Delgado is a candidate in the Baton Rouge mayor’s race.
Going up: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending June 4 increased from the previous week’s total. The Associated Press reports that state labor department figures released today show the initial claims rose to 3,590 from the previous week’s total of 3,138. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 3,368. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 3,216 from the previous week’s average of 3,024, a 6% increase. Continued unemployment claims for the week ending June 4 increased to 23,596 compared to 23,365 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims increased about 1% to 23,286 from the previous week’s average of 23,045.
Offset: The loss of one active oil and gas rig in north Louisiana was offset by the addition of one rig inland, on water, in south Louisiana, causing the state’s total number of active oil and gas rigs to remain unchanged from last week. According to Baker Hughes, Louisiana again finished the week with 47 total rigs. This time last year, there were 71 active rigs exploring for oil and gas in Louisiana. Nationally, the news continues to get better. The total U.S. rig count rose for the second week in the row with the addition of six new rigs, bringing the total to 414 from 408 last week. Still, that’s fewer than half as many rigs as there were one year ago, when 859 rigs explored for oil and gas in the United States.
