Staff Report
The Tri-Parish workforce in December 2020 was little changed from December 2019.
The Tri-Parish workforce, which includes those working and job seekers in St. Landry, Acadia and Evangeline parishes, totaled 67,284 in December. That’s 15 people below the count in December 2019.
The workforce count improved from 64,880 in November 2020 , but was down from 68,637 in October 2020.
By parish the December 2020 workforce counts were:
— St. Landry, 31,973, up 124 or 0.4% from December 2019;
— Acadia, 23,686, up 7 from December 2019; and
— Evangeline, 11,624, down 147 or 1.2% from December 2019.
The report released Tuesday is not seasonally adjusted, which means they do not take into account factors such as weather and holidays.
The December 2020 unemployment rates by parish were:
— St. Landry, 7.5%, up from 6.6% in December 2019 and down from 8.9% in November 2020;
— Acadia, 5.9%, up from 5.4% in December 2019 and down from 7.1% in November 2020;
— Evangeline, 6.3%, up from 6% in December 2019, and down from 7.6% in November 2020.
Louisiana’s December 2020 not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell by 1.3 percentage points from November 2020 to 6.9%. The unemployment rate also fell in all nine of Louisiana’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA).
Since November 2020, not seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment increased by 3,700 jobs from 1,908,000 to 1,911,700 in December 2020. When compared to December 2019, not seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment decreased by 83,200 jobs.
Since November 2020, not seasonally adjusted total private employment increased by 5,400 jobs from 1,579,500 to 1,584,900 in December 2020. When compared to December 2019, not seasonally adjusted private sector employment decreased by 74,300 jobs.
Since November 2020, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals increased by 18,110 from 1,918,962 to 1,937,072 in December 2020. When compared to December 2019, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals decreased by 50,947.
Since November 2020, the number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals decreased by 29,926 from 172,445 to 142,519 in December 2020. When compared to December 2019, the number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals increased by 39,538.
Not seasonally adjusted December 2020 unemployment rates for Louisiana’s nine MSAs are as follows:
— Alexandria: 5%, down from 6% in November and down from 5.4% in December 2019.
— Baton Rouge: 6.1%, down from 7.2% in November, but up from 4.5% in December 2019.
— Hammond: 8.1%, down from 9.6% in November, but up from 5.6% in December 2019.
— Houma: 5.9%, down from 6.9% in November, but up from 4.5% in December 2019.
— Lafayette: 6.2%, down from 7.3% in November, but up from 4.9% in December 2019.
— Lake Charles: 7.7%, down from 9.7% in November, but up from 4.5% in December 2019.
— Monroe: 5.7%, down from 6.9% in November, but up from 5.6% in December 2019.
— New Orleans: 8.2%, down from 10% in November, but up from 4.5% in December 2019.
— Shreveport: 6.6%, down from 8% in November, but up from 5.2% in December 2019.