NEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than 30,000 new claims for jobless benefits have been filed in Louisiana since the double hit of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, the federal Labor Department reported Thursday.
For the week ending Sept. 20, there were 9,671 initial claims filed in Louisiana. For the week of Sept. 13, there were 18,409. There were 2,251 for the week ending Sept. 6.
Although specific state-by-state figures for last week have not been released yet, the Labor Department estimated the two storms have boosted Texas and Louisiana unemployment claims by at least 45,000.
Nationwide, the Labor Department reported that initial claims for jobless benefits increased last week to a seasonally adjusted 497,000. That’s the highest since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The new claims follow an August unemployment report that showed somewhat slower year-to-year non-farm job growth in Louisiana — but a job picture that was one of the best in the United States due mostly to the New Orleans area which is recovering from Hurricane Katrina
From August 2007 to August 2008, Louisiana gained 18,200 non-farm jobs on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, with two-thirds of the jobs in the New Orleans region, the state labor department said. The count rose by 32,700 from July 2007 to July 2008 and 24,800 between June 2007 and June 2008.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the non-farm job count rose by 9,400 from July 2008 to July 2009 — the largest month-to-month increase in the United States.
Economists have said that Louisiana’s economy is doing better than the nation because of high oil prices, billions of dollars pouring into the state for hurricane reconstruction and a weak dollar that has fueled imports.
But there are other pressures that could press jobless claims. Last Friday, General Motors Corp. laid off an entire shift at its Shreveport assembly plant, costing the jobs of 798 employees. The plant, which until recently employed more than 2,000 people, has been hit by turmoil in the auto industry as buyers shunned the big pickups and Hummer vehicles that are produced in Shreveport.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that factory orders in August plunged by 4 percent compared to July, a much steeper decline than the 2.5 percent drop analysts expected and the biggest setback since a 4.8 percent plunge in October 2006.
The weakness was led by big declines in orders for aircraft, down 38.1 percent, and autos, which fell by 10.6 percent, the worst performance in nearly six years.
Louisiana lost 1,700 manufacturing jobs from August 2007 to August 2008, according to the latest state figure.
 
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