Unemployment Insurance Claims Report January 4, 2010

BATON ROUGE - Initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending December 26, 2009, decreased to 3,568 from the previous week’s total of 4,954. The decrease in initial claims can be primarily attributed to the shorter workweek due to the Christmas holiday. Initial claims were above the comparable week ending December 27, 2008, figure of 2,358.

The four-week moving average of initial claims decreased to 4,851 from the previous week’s average of 5,063.

Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending December 26, 2009, decreased to 63,861 from the previous week’s total of 65,317. Continued weeks claimed were above the comparable week ending December 27, 2008, figure of 32,007.

The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed increased to 64,669 from the previous week’s average of 63,862.

For more detailed information on occupational groups of unemployment insurance claimants, visit the Louisiana Workforce Commission’s (LWC’s) Web site at http://www.laworks.net and select Labor Market Information. Then select LOIS (Louisiana Occupational Information System), and under Demographics and Statistics select Unemployment Insurance Claimants.

UI Weekly Claims Data is a new feature now available on the LWC Web site. This feature will print out a report with initial and continued claims for the current selection, prior week, and prior year. Weekly claims data can be accessed back to the week ending January 3, 2004. Begin on the LWC home page and select Labor Market Information (LMI). Scroll down the LMI page to the LMI Products section and select Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claims.