Staff Report
The Tri-Parish workforce dropped 344 jobs in July from July 2017, according to federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
There were 69,864 people working or looking for jobs in July in St. Landry, Acadia and Evangeline parishes, down from 70,208 in July 2017.
The job numbers are not adjusted for seasonal factors such as weather and holidays.
The June report also counted a decrease in the Tri-Parish workforce over the year. In June, there were 70,062 people in the workforce, down from 70,780 people a year ago in June.
St. Landry Parish’s workforce in July was 32,828, down from 32,824 in July 2017.
Acadia Parish’s July workforce was 24,518, down from 24,719 in July 2017.
Evangeline Parish’s workforce in July was 12,518, down from 12,665 in July 2017.
Tri-Parish unemployment rates also declined in the report.
Unemployment rates for the parishes in July were:
— St. Landry Parish, 7.6 percent, up from 7.3 percent in July 2017, but down from 7.9 percent in June.
— Acadia Parish, 6.4 percent, up from 6.1 percent in July 2017 and down from 6.7 percent in June.
— Evangeline Parish, 7.2 percent, up from 6.6 percent in July 2017 and unchanged from June.
Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased by 26,000 jobs from July 2017 to 1,980,200. This is the 10th straight over-the-year increase, the news release stated.
Over the same time period, not seasonally adjusted private sector employment increased by 28,500 jobs. This is also the 10thstraight over-the-year increase.
From July 2017, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals increased by 17,084 to 2,033,470. From June 2018, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed people increased by 8,937. The number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals decreased by 3,781 from June 2018.
The not seasonally adjusted civilian labor force, or the number of people of who employed in addition to those looking for work increased by 24,271 since July 2017 to 2,160,283. From June 2018, the not seasonally adjusted civilian labor force increased by 5,156.
The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points from June 2018 to 5.9 percent.
From June 2018, all nine metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) saw declines in their not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates. Not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for Louisiana’s nine MSAs in July are below:
— Alexandria: 6.3 percent, down from 6.5 percent in June, but up from 6.2 percent in July 2017.
— Baton Rouge: 5.3 percent, down from 5.4 percent in June, but up from 5 percent in July 2017.
— Hammond: 6.6 percent, down from 6.8 percent in June, but up from 6.5 percent in July 2017.
— Houma: 5.8 percent, down from 6.1 percent in June, but up from 5.7 percent in July 2017.
— Lafayette: 5.9 percent, down from 6.1 percent in June, but unchanged from July 2017.
— Lake Charles: 4.5 percent, down from 4.7 percent in June, but up from 4.2 percent in July 2017.
— Monroe: 6.1 percent, down from 6.3 percent in June, but up from 5.6 percent in July 2017.
— New Orleans: 5.6 percent, down from 5.7 percent in June, but up from 5.3 percent in July 2017.
— Shreveport: 6.2 percent, down from 6.5 percent in June, but up from 6 percent in July 2017.