Jobless rate is down; so is employment

St. Mary Parish’s unemployment rate was down slightly in November, but so was the number of people employed in the parish.
The monthly report from the Louisiana Workforce Commission put St. Mary’s November unemployment at 4.0%, down from 4.1% in October but up from 3.7% in November 2022.
The unemployment rate reflects the percentage of people who are without jobs but are actively seeking them.
Nonfarm employment in St. Mary slipped by 22 to 17,811 from October to November. The number of unemployed people was down 22 to 751.
In Assumption, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8% from 4.0% month over month. Employment rose by nine to 8,457. Unemployment was down 19 to 332.
Between November 2022 and November 2023, Assumption employment was down 48.
St. Martin Parish’s November unemployment rate was 3.4%, again despite a drop in total employment by 75 to 21,154 since October.
Statewide, the jobless rate was 3.5% in November after a loss of 5,600 jobs month over month. But the state is up 34,000 jobs from November 2022.
Nearly all the major economic sectors showed month-over-month drops in employment. Hardest hit was trade, transportation and utilities, which lost 3,600 jobs since October.
Leisure and hospitality lost 700 jobs, as did professional and business services.
Mining and logging, the sector that includes many energy industry jobs, was up 100 to 33,200.