Staff Report
The Tri-Parish workforce numbered 66,652 people in December, down 1,106 or 1.6 percent from the December 2017 count, according to not seasonally adjusted numbers from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
The workforce includes those people employed and those looking for jobs in the state count.
The Tri-Parish December workforce counts are:
— St. Landry Parish, 31,659, down 381 — 1.2 percent — from December 2017.
— Acadia Parish, 23,599, down 121 — 0.5 percent — from December 2017.
— Evangeline Parish, 11,775, down 604 — 4.9 percent — from December 2017.
December unemployment rates were:
— St. Landry Parish, 5.8 percent, up from 5.4 percent in December 2017 and unchanged from November.
— Acadia Parish, 4.8 percent, up from 4.6 percent in December 2017 and down from 5.1 percent in November.
— Evangeline Parish, 5 percent, up from 4.7 percent in December 2017 and down from 5.3 percent in November.
The statistics released Wednesday are not seasonally adjusted for factors such as weather and holidays.
The state jobless rate in December was 4.3 percent, up from 4 percent in December 2017 and down from 4.5 percent in November.
“The 2018 not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate annual average is 4.8 percent. When compared to other historical not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate annual averages, this is Louisiana’s third lowest annual average in the series history,” the report stated.
The annual average unemployment rate can be derived only from not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate data. Seasonal adjustments incorporate seasonal employment patterns that are not appropriate when annualizing unemployment rates.
The number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals decreased by 3,938 from November 2018 to 90,463.
Not-seasonally adjusted December unemployment rates for the nine metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) are as follows:
— Alexandria: 4.9 percent, down from 5 percent in November, but up from 4.5 percent from December 2017.
— Baton Rouge: 3.9 percent, down from 4 percent in November, but up from 3.5 percent from December 2017.
— Hammond: 4.9 percent, unchanged from 4.9 percent in November, but up from 4.4 percent from December 2017.
— Houma: 4.2 percent, down from 4.5 percent in November, but unchanged from 4.2 percent from December 2017.
— Lafayette: 4.3 percent, down from 4.5 percent in November, but up from 4.2 percent from December 2017.
— Lake Charles: 3.3 percent, down from 3.4 percent in November, but up from 3.2 percent from December 2017.
— Monroe: 4.9 percent, down from 5 percent in November, but up from 4.2 percent from December 2017.
— New Orleans: 3.9 percent, down from 4.2 percent in November, but up from 3.7 percent from December 2017.
— Shreveport: 4.7 percent, down from 4.9 percent in November, but up from 4.3 percent from December 2017.