Louisiana adds 19,100 jobs in December

Louisiana added 19,100 jobs in December compared to a year earlier, as employment rose above 2 million.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the state’s nonfarm employment in December at 2,002,000. The figures were not seasonally adjusted. Louisiana was one of 40 states to add nonfarm payroll jobs over the year.
Separately, the state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, higher than the U.S. rate of 3.9 percent.
Nine of 11 sectors added jobs in Louisiana in December compared to the year prior. The largest gains came in education and health services, up 5,500 to 322,000; manufacturing, up 4,800 to 139,100; trade, transportation and utilities, up 3,200 to 387,600; and financial activities, up 3,200 to 94,600.
Mining and logging, which includes the state’s oil and gas sector, added 600 jobs during the period.
Professional and business service lost 3,700 jobs, and government shed 2,500 jobs.