BATON ROUGE - Initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending July 7, 2012, increased to

3,960 from the previous week’s total of 3,456. Initial claims were below the comparable week ending July 9,

2011, figure of 4,053.

The four-week moving average of initial claims decreased to 3,714 from the previous week’s average of 3,792.

Continued unemployment insurance weeks claimed for the week ending July 7, 2012, increased to 35,461 from

the previous week’s total of 35,399. Continued weeks claimed were below the comparable week ending July 9,

2011, figure of 47,247.

The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed increased to 35,157 from the previous week’s

average of 34,752.

All regular unemployment insurance claimants in Louisiana who have received at least one check during the

reference month, increased to 32,769 in June 2012, up 1,565 from 31,204 the month before.

For more detailed information on occupational groups of unemployment insurance claimants, visit the

Louisiana Workforce Commission’s website at www.laworks.net and select Labor Market Information. Then

under LMI Products select Unemployment Insurance Claims. The following selections are available: Weekly

Statewide UI Claims Data, Weekly UI Claims by RLMA, UI Claims by Industry, 13-Week Trend By Area, and

UI Area Characteristics.