Labor Department stats show picture before Katrina
September 8, 2005
While US Labor Department statistics released Thursday show that 319,000 people filed first-time unemployment claims last week, 1,000 less than the previous week, jobless numbers are expected to rise sharply as the numbers of people put out of work by Hurricane Katrina become clearer.
Officials say that last week’s numbers likely would have been much higher except for the fact that many unemployment offices in the affected area were themselves shut down by storm damage. Based on checks of unemployment offices in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama that are still in operation, and in Texas, where officials have agreed to accept jobless claims from storm evacuees, the Labor Department estimates that 10,000 people displaced by the storm have already filed claims, and they are sure to be joined by many more.
The Labor Department also announced on Thursday that $30.8 million dollars in grants have been extended to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas to facilitate the processing of unemployment claims and to expedite the payment of benefits to people put out of work by Katrina.
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