11.1.22 – Yahoo Finance
Louisiana tied its record for its lowest not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September with a rate of 3.5%, dropping 0.3 percentage points from August, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. It’s the 19th consecutive month that Louisiana has had a year-to-year decline in unemployment rate.
Since September 2021, the state’s unemployment rate has fallen by 1.6%.
From August to September, Louisiana added 17,251 employed workers, giving the state nearly 2.02 million total. The number of employed workers has increased by 58,720 since September 2021.
The number of unemployed workers fell by 4,855 from August to September to 73,850 – the lowest total on record. Since September 2021, the number of unemployed workers fell by 30,565.
The government, construction, education and health services industries added the most jobs in Louisiana since August, with government leading the way with 7,600. Construction added 1,800, and education and health services added 1,100.
Since September 2021, Leisure and hospitality companies have added the most new jobs with 30,300. Education and health services have added 19,900, and professional and business services have added 18,800, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
But new data show that Louisiana’s net job gains have been sporadic since the beginning of 2021. Data released in October showed that between January 2021 and March 2022, Louisiana had a net gain of around 52,800 jobs – the 19th lowest mark among U.S. states over that period.
Of the five quarters included in the data, Louisiana had the two worst quarters for net job losses of all U.S. states and territories. In the first quarter of 2022, the state had a net loss of 8,340 jobs and was the only state to lose jobs during that quarter.
In the third quarter of 2021, Louisiana lost nearly a net total of 24,000 jobs, nearly four times more than the state with the second-highest job loss in the quarter. Three other states – Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska – had net job losses totaling 13,175 lost jobs.
All of Louisiana’s nine Metropolitan Statistical Areas saw their unemployment rates fall from August to September, according to the LWC. Alexandria had the lowest not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.9%, which was down from 3% in August and 3.5% in September 2021.
Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Charles all had unemployment rates of 3.2% in September. The Baton Rouge area’s rate fell from 3.4% in August and 4.3 in September 2021. Lafayette’s fell from 3.3% in August and 4.3% in September 2021.
The Lake Charles area’s unemployment rate fell from 3.4% in August and 4.6% in September 2021.
Both Houma and Monroe had an unemployment rate of 3.4% in September. The Houma area’s rate fell from 3.5% in August and 6.2% in September 2021. Monroe’s rate dropped from 3.6% in August and 4.3% in September 2021.
Shreveport’s unemployment rate was 3.6% in September, down from 3.8% in August and 4.6% in September 2021. The New Orleans area had a rate of 4.1% in September, a decline from 4.1% in August and 6.3% in September 2021.
The Hammond area had the highest unemployment rate of 4.3% in September, dropping from 4.7% in August and 6.3% in September 2021.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana’s unemployment rate is low, but how many jobs has it gained?