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Louisiana employment continued to set records in November, when the non-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped below 3%, the state Workforce Commission said.

Meanwhile, St. Mary Parish employment is approaching 20,000 again after setbacks from COVID and a prolonged slump in energy prices.

Louisiana’s unemployment rate for November was 2.9%, a record low for the state. That’s down from 3.1% in October and 4.0% in November 2021.

November was the 21st consecutive month of declines in the state unemployment rate.

The number of employed people, also not seasonally adjusted, grew by 16,645 from October to November to 2,025,926.

“We’ve done it again. November’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate came in at 2.9%, the lowest in the state’s history,” said Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Cates. “Major industries statewide are maintaining a steady increase in job creation and opportunities for Louisianians.”

Major industries that showed the largest gains for seasonally adjusted jobs over the month:

—Construction gained 3,400 jobs from October 2022.

—Education and Health Services gained 1,300 jobs from October 2022.

—Financial Activities gained 600 jobs from October 2022.

Major industries that showed the largest gains for seasonally adjusted jobs over the year:

—Education and Health Services gained 14,800 jobs from November 2021.

—Leisure and Hospitality gained 13,700 jobs from November 2021.

—Professional and Business Services gained 10,700 jobs from November 2021.

Among Louisiana’s MSAs in November 2022, seasonally adjusted data shows:

—Alexandria (63,000 jobs) added 200 jobs from October 2022 and gained 1,300 jobs from November 2021.

—Baton Rouge (401,500 jobs) added 500 jobs from October 2022 and gained 4,000 jobs from November 2021.

—Hammond (46,900 jobs) added 200 jobs from October 2022 and gained 1,100 jobs from November 2021.

—Houma (81,300 jobs) added 100 jobs from October 2022 and gained 2,700 jobs from November 2021.

—Lafayette (203,400 jobs) showed no change from October 2022, but gained 5,200 jobs from November 2021.

—Lake Charles (101,800 jobs) added 800 jobs from October 2022 and gained 1,900 jobs from November 2021.

— Monroe (76,200 jobs) added 300 jobs from October 2022 and gained 700 jobs from November 2021.

—New Orleans (564,100 jobs) lost 1,000 jobs from October 2022, but gained 21,900 jobs from November 2021.

—Shreveport (175,700 jobs) lost 700 jobs from October 2022, but gained 2,000 jobs from November 2021.

Parish-by-parish and MSA unemployment rates for November were due to be released late this week.

In October, St. Mary’s unemployment rate was 3.9%, down from 4.3% in September and 5.2% in October 2021.

The number of unemployed people in the parish, which exceeded 1,000 in October 2021, was at 723 in October 2022.

But the number of employed people declined, too. The commission said 18,168 St. Mary people had jobs in October 2021, compared to 17,876 in October 2022.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics parish-by-parish employment numbers are reported quarterly and lag behind other economic statistics.

But as of June 2022, 19,877 people were employed in St. Mary, the highest total since COVID lock-downs began to take hold in March 2020, when 20,816 parish residents were employed.
Employment here peaked at 27,374 in September 2014 before a long slide in energy prices drove employment below 19,000.

Entergy Louisiana is proposing a 10-year, $9.6 billion plan to harden the electrical grid in Louisiana, and is seeking approval for the first five years from the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Entergy filed a Phase I Entergy Future Ready resilience plan with the commission on Monday to propose "a comprehensive set of grid-hardening investments for the Commission to consider along with enhanced vegetation management and alternative technologies," according to an Entergy announcement.

The company contends it used a data-driven approach to evaluate thousands of potential storm scenarios to identify projects with the biggest impact for customers at the "lowest reasonable cost."

"In its totality, the resilience projects are estimated to cost approximately $9.6 billion over 10 years," the announcement read. "It calls for 9,600 distribution and transmission projects that would strengthen more than 269,000 structures over 11,000 miles of power lines."

The plan includes two five-year phases between 2024 and 2033, and the company is working to secure federal grants and funding to mitigate the costs to customers.

Entergy is seeking approval from the PSC for the first, five-year phase, which includes about $5 billion in projects the company expects to reduce customer interruptions by more than 34 billion minutes over the next five decades.

"Louisiana has a chance to lead the way in terms of energy, resilience and sustainability, but we must be ready and that’s exactly what this plan intends to do," said Phillip May, Entergy
Louisiana president and CEO. "Our Entergy Future Ready resilience plan is about making sure we’re not only meeting the daily power needs of residents, small businesses and industries, among many other stakeholders, but also meeting their needs in the toughest of times."

The company contends the upgrades are necessary because of an increased frequency of severe weather, and increasing demand tied to the government’s push to decarbonize.

Entergy claims the plan will reduce the cost of restoring power following storms, as well as the number and duration of outages. That would be accomplished in part through microgrids, though the company warned that approach comes with risks.

"The proposed microgrids would provide a decentralized and local source of generation for a defined area following a major storm," the filing read. "To be clear, at this time, the Company has completed only a planning-level evaluation of microgrids to enhance resilience and is presenting these various microgrid options for consideration and discussion.

"As the Commission and parties consider such alternatives, it is important to understand that the use of microgrids as a tool and a strategy to enhance resilience is novel," it continued.

"Because of its novelty, deploying this technology as a resilience tool involves inherent risk, and it will be important to evaluate the technology carefully before proceeding."

The 511-page plan filed with the PSC on Monday comes almost six months after Entergy New Orleans proposed a similar grid-hardening plan to the New Orleans City Council.

That proposal, which is expected to cost about $1.5 billion over a decade, "includes a menu of options for the New Orleans City Council to consider including grid resilience, hardening projects, and alternative technologies such as microgrids."

Entergy New Orleans provides electricity to more than 209,000 customers and natural gas to more than 110,000 customers in Orleans Parish, while Entergy Louisiana serves electricity to more than 1 million customers in 58 parishes, and natural gas to more than 94,000 Baton Rouge customers.

Entergy, which is based in New Orleans, takes in $10 billion in revenue annually and employs 12,000 to serve 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

The Center Square
A U.S. Army sergeant is suing President Joe Biden, the U.S. Department of Defense, and others over the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate and repeated denials of his requested religious exemption.
Master Sgt. Robert Galey, Jr. filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana with the help of the Pelican Institute Monday in anticipation of his supervisors moving forward with a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand this week, a punishment that he argues will effectively end his career.
"We’re arguing the Army’s military vaccine mandate is unconstitutional under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act," said James Baehr, special counsel for the Pelican Institute,.
The lawsuit comes as Congress appears poised to approve a National Defense Authorization Act that includes language requiring the military services to rescind the vaccine mandate, which Galey argues will be too late to prevent his separation.
"NDAA is trying to eliminate the vaccine mandate and stop the separations from happening," Baehr said, "but his commander said they’re still moving forward with separation."

"They can move forward with that as quickly as a few weeks," he said.

Galey has served as an active-duty infantry soldier for 16 years, with eight deployments to combat zones including Iraq and Afghanistan, and he’s currently stationed at Louisiana’s Fort Polk.

President Biden included the COVID-19 vaccine on the list of required immunizations for all service members on July 29, 2021, and Galey requested an exemption based on his Christian faith in October 2021.

Galey opposes the vaccine "due to what he believes and understands is a connection between these vaccines and their testing, development, or production using aborted fetal cell lines," according to the lawsuit.

"Plaintiff holds the sincere religious belief that life is sacred, from conception to natural death, and that abortion is the impermissible taking of an innocent life in the womb," the lawsuit read. "Plaintiff is actively involved in pro-life and crisis pregnancy service work at his church."

Galey’s requested exemption was supported by letters from his minister, chaplain, and immediate commander, but the request was denied by his commander Col. Andrew O. Saslav in November 2021. The request was also rejected by the Surgeon General of the Army, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower & Reserve Affairs and the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

The final rejection was issued Sept. 28.

"Master Sergeant Galey has been threatened with imminent involuntary administrative separation, the loss of his military career, and the loss of all military medical and retirement benefits going forward," the lawsuit read.

Submitted Photo
Ochsner St. Mary Community Outreach recently held a free Hello Health seminar presented by Glenn Lanclos, NP, on "Living with Arthritis."