Parish jobless rate was 13.2% in April

Image
Body

Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 14.5% for April, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased 8.2 percentage points from March 2020’s revised not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 6.3%.
The news release Friday stated the information broadly reflects the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
St. Landry Parish’s April unemployment rate was 13.2%, up from 5% in April 2019 and up from 8.2% in March.
Acadia Parish’s April jobless rate was 11.3%, up from 4.2% in April 2019 and 7% in March.
Evangeline Parish’s unemployment rate in April was 11.5%, up from 4.6% in April 2019 and 7.5% in March.
Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted civilian labor force, or the number of people who are employed in addition to those seeking work, decreased by 200,753 from 2,129,078 in March 2020 to 1,928,325 in April 2020.
The number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals decreased by 345,871 from 1,993,963 in March to 1,648,092 in April. The number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals increased by 145,118 from 135,115 in March to 280,233 in April.
Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment decreased by 232,000 jobs from 1,959,600 in March to 1,727,600 in April. Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted private sector employment decreased by 223,400 jobs from 1,624,400 in March 2020 to 1,401,000 in April 2020.
Not seasonally adjusted April 2020 unemployment rates for Louisiana’s nine MSAs are as follows:
— Alexandria: 9.9%, up from 4% in April 2019 and up from 6.6% from March.
— Baton Rouge: 13%, up from 3.4%in April 2019 and up from 5.6% from March.
— Hammond: 17.1%, up from 4.3% in April 2019 and up from 7.1% from March.
— Houma: 12.3 %, up from 3.6% in April 2019 and up from 6% from March.
— Lafayette: 13.1%, up from 3.7% from April 2019 and up from 6.4% from March.
— Lake Charles: 14.5%, up from 3.1% in April 2019 and up from 6% from March.
— Monroe: 11.6%, up from 4.3% in April 2019 and up from 7.2% from March.
— New Orleans: 18.8%, up from 3.5% in April 2019 and up from 5.9% from March.
— Shreveport: 13%, up from 4.1% in April 2019 and up from 6.7% from March.