Initial unemployment insurance claims drop for week ending July 15

BATON ROUGE – Initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending July 15, 2017 decreased to 2,939 from the previous week’s total of 3,019. For the comparable week a year ago, ending July 16, 2016, 3,062 initial claims were filed.

The four-week moving average of initial claims increased to 2,972 from the previous week’s average of 2,967.

Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending July 15, 2017 decreased to 23,329 from the previous week’s total of 24,753. Continued weeks claimed were below the comparable figure of 27,611 for the week ending July 16, 2016.

The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed decreased to 24,071 from the previous week’s average of 24,111.

Quarterly job fairs hosted by the Louisiana Workforce Commission and other organizations across the state help Louisiana citizens make a better life for themselves in family-sustaining careers. On Wednesday, July 12, 2017, the Quarterly Job Fair was hosted in Lake Charles, La., at the Lake Charles Civic Center. By the numbers, approximately 34 employers catered to more than 340 job-seekers in attendance at this event. In addition, 42 veterans and 88 youths were among the attendees of this job-hiring event.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) has countless tools both in person and online to help claimants file and process their claims. This is in addition to the agency’s 59 local offices statewide, job fairs, training programs, apprenticeship opportunities and numerous other services.

Updates to the LWC’s unemployment information processing system are still being implemented. As a result, the following data are not currently available: the break-out of interstate claims, Louisiana unemployment insurance claimants' parish of residence, unemployment insurance claims by industry and UI claimants who have received at least one check during the reference month in Louisiana.

For more detailed information on occupational groups of unemployment insurance claimants, visit www.laworks.net and select Labor Market Information.

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) Weekly Claims Data webpage includes the following: UI Weekly Claims Data by Regional Labor Market Area and by Parish, UI Weekly Claims Data by Industry for Louisiana, UI Definition and UI Monthly Claimant Characteristics by Parish. To access these products, select Labor Market Information at www.laworks.net, scroll down the LMI page to the LMI Products section, and select Unemployment Insurance Claims.