You decide: You still have time to cast your vote for the Baton Rouge Growth Coalition’s 2016 People’s Choice Award, but hurry up—voting closes at 5 p.m. today. The honor is given to a development or project the general public has nominated as having the greatest impact on the community’s quality of life. This year’s nominees are 440 on Third, the IBM complex and Woman’s Hospital. The winner will be announced on stage at the 2016 Good Growth Awards. The biennial event takes place from 6-9 p.m. on Oct. 13 at the Renaissance Hotel, 7000 Bluebonnet Blvd. Cast your vote and get more information.
Minus one: Louisiana lost one rig during the week ending Sept. 23, bringing the state’s total oil and gas rig count to 40, according to the weekly tally by Baker Hughes, a Houston-based oilfield services company. For the prior week, Louisiana had 41 active oil and gas rigs. Louisiana had 70 active oil and gas rigs around this time last year. Meanwhile, the national rig count increased this week to 511 from the previous week’s total of 506. This time last year, there were 838 active rigs exploring for oil and gas in the United States.
A few more: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Sept. 17 increased from the previous week’s total, The Associated Press reports. The state labor department figures released today show the initial claims rose to 2,402 from the previous week’s total of 2,394. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 2,307. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 3,136 from the previous week’s average of 3,781. Continued unemployment claims claimed for the week ending Sept. 17 decreased to 27,190 compared to 28,220 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims increased to 27,636 from the previous week’s average of 27,320.
