Available now: Two days after a ribbon cutting was held to mark the completion and opening of the Watermark Hotel at 150 Third St. in downtown Baton Rouge, the new hotel is now accepting reservations, developer Mike Wampold says. Wampold previously told Daily Report the hotel would hold off on taking reservations for a couple of days to make sure everything at the 144-room Watermark Hotel was ready for guests. The Watermark is a high-end, full service boutique hotel that flies the Marriott Autograph flag. Wampold acquired the property—the former site of the Louisiana National Bank building—more than three years ago. He has invested more than $32 million in the project.
Going up: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Oct. 8 increased from the previous week’s total. According to the latest data from the Louisiana Workforce Commission, initial claims rose to 2,558 from the previous week’s total of 2,379. For the comparable week one year ago, there were 2,635 initial claims filed. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 2,446 from the previous week’s average of 2,405. Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending Oct. 8 decreased to 23,751 from the previous week’s total of 25,211. The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed decreased to 25,439 from the previous week’s average of 26,556.
Moving upward: Louisiana has gained six active oil and gas rigs, according to the latest tally released today by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The company says Louisiana now has 48 active oil and gas rigs, compared to 42 a week ago and 41 the week before that. Around this time last year, Louisiana had 65 rigs actively exploring for oil and gas. The U.S. rig count also increased this week, Baker Hughes says. The national rig count rose by 15 to 539, up from 524 one week ago.
