Tagged: economy

RUSTON — The 2012 Louisiana Peach Festival pumped a record of about $5.3 million into the Lincoln Parish economy, according to the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

The Daily Leader reports (http://bit.ly/NkX2jt) the economic impact estimate tops the previous high of $4.6 million set in 2006.

Figures released by the chamber, which produces the festival, show attendance rose to 19,837, a slight increase over 2011.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

There's more gloomy news from the eurozone this week. Italy saw its sovereign debt rating lowered by one agency, at just a couple of notches above junk status. In Spain, civil servants, coalminers, and others took to the streets once again to protest more spending cuts and tax hikes. And Germany's highest court heard arguments challenging the constitutionality of two measures considered central to efforts to try to contain the euro crisis.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits in Louisiana for the week ending July 7 increased from the previous week's total.

State labor department figures released Friday show initial claims rose to 3,960 from the previous week's total of 3,456. The figure was lower than it was for the comparable week a year earlier, when there were 4,053 initial claims.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 3,714 from the previous week's total of 3,792.