One-week layoff drives up La. jobless claims

First-time claims for unemployment benefits in Louisiana shot up 21% last week because of a temporary one-week layoff in the transportation equipment sector. According to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, there were 5,488 initial claims for the week ending Saturday. There were 4,533 first-time claims the previous week. Initial claims for the comparable week ending Nov. 8, 2008, totaled 2,705. Last week, there were 60,676 continuing claims — down slightly from the previous week’s 60,755. A year ago, there were 29,443 continuing unemployment claims from the jobless.