Jobless claims jump with Pilgrim’s Pride closure

The closure of the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Farmerville led the way to a 30 percent increase in initial claims for unemployment benefits last week in Louisiana, the Louisiana Workforce Commission said Friday.

There were 5,531 initial claims for the week ending May 9, up from the previous week’s total of 4,240. For the comparable week a year ago, there were 3,947 new claims.

The Pilgrim’s Pride closure led to 1,057 of the latest claims.

State lawmakers are considering legislation under which the state would put up $50 million – $40 million of the purchase price and $10 million in improvements – to reopen the plant. California-based Foster Farms would take over the plant by paying another $40 million.

Continued unemployment weeks increased slightly in Louisiana last week to 48,651 from the previous week’s 48,603. For the week ending May 10, 2008, there were 20,277 continued weeks, the state agency said.

After the Pilgrim’s Pride layoffs, the sectors with the highest numbers of new claims included construction with 761, hotel and food services with 380, retail trade with 337, administrative services with 328, professional, scientific and technical services with 328, health care and social assistance with 322, transportation equipment with 211 and petroleum with 187.