Jobless rate, employment both down in St. Mary

St. Mary’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.3% in November, but total nonfarm employment also decreased slightly in the parish, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The November unemployment rate was down from 10.4% in October. The number of unemployed people fell to 1,844 from 2,098 in October.
Total nonfarm employment slipped to 18,037 in November from 18,047 the month before.
The unemployment rate is a measure of the number of jobless people who are actively seeking work. Decreases in the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate at the same time can be seen as an indication that some discouraged workers have given up their search for employment.
As with the rest of the state and the nation, the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a massive economic blow.
Unemployment in St. Mary reached 14.8% in May, according to statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis.
But in November 2019, before the pandemic reached Louisiana, employment here was already down to 18,173 from the 2014 peak of more than 27,000 reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A long-term slide in energy prices began late in 2014. On Friday, contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were trading at $51.52 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price of oil has more than doubled since May.
Natural gas, which rose above $3 per thousand cubic feet in late October, were back down to $2.73 Thursday.
In Assumption Parish, unemployment was at 9.8% in November, down from 10.8% in October, again with declining total nonfarm employment.
In St. Martin, unemployment was at 7.8% in November, down from 8.9% in October.
The recent passage of federal COVID-19 relief measures offer some help to the unemployed.
The package included a $300-per-week federal enhancement of state unemployment benefits.
It also funded another round of forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans to businesses that keep their workers on the job. The recent legislation earmarked $280 billion for PPP loans nationwide.
And $600-per-person stimulus payments have already begun showing up in bank accounts.
Congressional Demo-crats have pushed for additional stimulus payments as well as aid to state and local governments, and this week’s Georgia runoff results have given functional control of the Senate to the Democrats to go with their House majority.
But the Democrats’ margin is thin and may have to rely on tie-breaking votes from Vice President Kamala Harris. The level of federal spending and the possibility that it will lead to inflation have raised concern among conservative and moderate lawmakers.