St. Mary jobless rate down slightly

St. Mary Parish’s unemployment rate was down slightly in July despite a decline in total employment.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission reported Monday that St. Mary’s jobless rate was 5.7% in July, down 0.1 point from June.

The number of people employed in St. Mary dropped 113 from June to 18,527 in July. The number of unemployed people – those without jobs who are seeking employment — was down 13 from June to 1,141 in July.

Employment in St. Mary is up 366 jobs from July 2021, when the unemployment rate was 7.6%.

As in St. Mary, Assumption Parish’s unemployment rate declined slightly in July despite a drop in overall employment. The number of jobs slipped by 13 from June to 8,270 with an unemployment rate of 6.1%, down 0.1 point from June.

St. Martin, which is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area, saw an increase of 18 jobs from June. St. Martin’s unemployment rate was down 0.2 point to 4.3%.

The figures were released as economists try to predict which way the economy will go.
Inflation continues to run at 9%, and the economy as measured by gross domestic product has contracted in two straight quarters, which is one definition of a recession.

The Federal Reserve has begun to raise interest rates to combat inflation.

But the July U.S. jobs report was unexpectedly strong with more than 500,000 jobs created month over month. And gasoline prices, a key component of inflation, are down sharply in recent months.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted Louisiana unemployment for July was 3.6%, down 0.2 points from June, according to statistics cited from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and cited by the Workforce Commission.

The state says 2,027,635 people were employed in Louisiana last month, the second-highest figure in the history of the statistical series.

“These historic numbers are signs that Louisiana is moving in the right direction,” said Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Cates in a press release.

“The workforce commission is dedicated to our state’s continued success by offering programs and services to all Louisianians so they can meet their career goals.”

Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 1.9 percentage points lower than in July 2021. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has declined over the year for 17 consecutive months, and has not seen an over-the-month increase since April 2020.