Jobless claims decrease in La.

Initial unemployment claims filed in Louisiana last week decreased to 2,860 from the previous week’s 2,887 and a year-ago level of 3,097.

The state labor department said the four-week moving average, a less volatile measure of unemployment trends, increased to 2,773 from the previous week’s 2,765.

Continued unemployment claims for the week ending March 9 decreased to 27,583 from the previous week’s 28,217, but were below the year-ago level of 36,518. The four-week moving average of continued claims decreased to 28,350 from the previous week’s 28,900.