Jobless rate down slightly in July

St. Mary Parish’s unemployment rate was down slightly in July, when employers hired an additional 44 people compared to June.
The July jobless rate here was 5.2%, down from 5.3% in June.
Total nonfarm employment in St. Mary was at 17,910 in July compared to 17,877 in June. The number of unemployed people, those without jobs who are actively seeking them, was down 16 from June to 989.
In July 2023, St. Mary employment stood at 18,313, unemployment was at 811 and the jobless rate was at 4.2%.
The July unemployment rate was also down by 0.1 point to 4.6% in Assumption, where employment stood at 8,490 last month. That was up by 13 jobs.
Unemployment was down by seven to 414.
Statewide, the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 3.9%, beating the national rate of 4.3%.
Nonfarm employment rose by a net 100 jobs from June and is up by 12,100 jobs from July 2023.
The biggest month-over-month gain was in the private education and health services sector, which added 3,000 jobs last month.
Trade, transportation and utilities was up by 1,100, and financial services rose by 1,000.
Among sectors with losses, the largest was leisure and hospitality, where employment fell 3,000 jobs last month. This sector has shrunk by more than 5,000 jobs since July 2023.
Construction and manufacturing were down 700 jobs each.