Staff Report
Tri-Parish unemployment rates rose in October compared to those in September and a year ago, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The report also shows the Tri-Parish workforce is relatively unchanged from a year ago in October.
The Tri-Parish workforce, which counts those working and seeking employment, totaled 68,637, up 599 or 0.9% from October 2019.
In St. Landry Parish, the October workforce totaled 32,670, up 582 or 1.8% over October 2019.
In Evangeline Parish, the October workforce was 11,887, up 5 from October 2019.
In Acadia Parish, the October workforce was 24,080, up 22 from the October 2019 workforce.
St. Landry Parish’s October jobless rate was 10%, up from 8.8% in September and 6.5% in October 2019.
Evangeline Parish’s October unemployment rate was 8.7%, up from 7.9% in September and 7.2% in October 2019.
Acadia Parish’s unemployment rate in October was 7.9%, up from 7% in September and 5.5% in October 2019.
The report’s job statistics are not seasonally adjusted, which means they do not take into account factors such as weather and holidays.
Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October increased to 9.3%; an increase of 1.2 percentage points from September’s revised not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 8.1%. The October 2019 unemployment rate was 5%.
Not seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased by 29,300 jobs from 1,853,400 in September to 1,882,700 jobs in October. When compared to October 2019, not seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment decreased by 112,000 jobs.
Since September, not seasonally adjusted private sector employment increased by 28,800 jobs from 1,525,900 to 1,554,700 in October. When compared to October 2019, not seasonally adjusted private sector employment decreased by 102,800 jobs.
Since September, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals decreased by 6,331 from 1,927,373 to 1,921,042 in October. When compared to October 2019, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals decreased by 81,562.
Since September, the number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals increased by 27,527 from 169,723 to 197,250 in October. When compared to October 2019, the number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals increased by 91,406.
Not seasonally adjusted October unemployment rates for Louisiana’s nine MSAs are as follows:
— Alexandria: 6.8%, up from 6% percent in September and up from 5.3% in October 2019.
— Baton Rouge: 8% percent, up from 7% percent in September and up from 4.6% in October 2019.
— Hammond: 10.5%, up from 9.3% in September and up from 5.6% in October 2019.
— Houma: 7.9%, up from 6.8% in September and up from 4.7% in October 2019.
— Lafayette: 8.3%, up from 7.3% in September and up from 4.9% in October 2019.
— Lake Charles: 11.8%, down from 12% in September, but up from 4.2% in October 2019.
— Monroe: 7.7%, up from 6.7% in September and up from 5.6% in October 2019.
— New Orleans: 11.3%, up from 9.4% in September and up from 4.7% in October 2019.
— Shreveport: 9%, up from 7.6% in September and up from 5.4% in October 2019.