Business isn’t booming in St. Mary Parish, but it’s gradually getting better. St. Mary Parish’s unemployment rate declined to 6.5 percent in April from 6.6 percent in March. In April 2017, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. However, in February the unemployment rate was lower at 6.3 percent, dropping from the 6.5 percent rate in January, stated statistics released earlier in the year. The parish’s workforce, which is the sum of employed residents and those looking for work, totaled 19,646, with 18,366 people employed and 1,280 unemployed in April. In March, the parish workforce ...