La. unemployment hits 14.5% in April
Staff Report
Louisiana’s mining and logging sector, which includes many oil and gas industry jobs, saw its biggest reduction in employment in April since the 1980s oil crash, according to figures from the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
And the state’s manufacturing sector shed more jobs than at any time since the month after World War II ended.
Preliminary data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics show that Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 14.5% in April, when COVID-19 restrictions led to a massive economic slowdown.
Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 7.8 percentage points from March 2020’s revised seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 6.7%. For a comparison, the United States seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is at 14.7%.
Mining and logging shed 7.1% of all jobs in that sector. That was the most since the sector lost 11.6% of its jobs in April 1981.
Manufacturing was hit even more drastically. That sector’s employment dropped 1,330 jobs, or 10.4% of the total, in April.
That was the biggest drop since September 1945, when post-war layoffs took away 1,715 manufacturing jobs, or 12.1% of the total.
“The occurrence of COVID-19, has been unprecedented both for Louisiana and the United States at large,” said LWC Secretary Ava Dejoie. “However, the Louisiana Workforce Commission quickly mobilized and has paid over $1.9 billion to Louisiana residents to assist in their time of need.”
For the month of May, the LWC has awarded more than $5.6 million in Incumbent Worker Training Program grants which will create more than 410 jobs and train & retain 8,753.
For example, Weyer-haeuser, one of the largest sustainable forest product companies in the world, is taking advantage of an IWTP grant. The grant, once received from the LWC, will help train approximately 454 employees, with a projected average wage increase of 10.02%, and the creation of 46 jobs.
Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted civilian labor force, or the number of people who are employed in addition to those looking for work, decreased by 188,539 from 2,126,568 in March 2020 to 1,938,029 in April 2020.
The number of seasonally adjusted employed individuals decreased by 328,470 from 1,984,927 in March 2020 to 1,656,457 in April 2020. The number of seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals increased by 139,931 from 141,641 in March 2020 to 281,572 in April 2020.
Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment decreased by 239,600 from 1,960,700 in March 2020 to 1,721,100 in April 2020. Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted private sector employment decreased by 228,900 from 1,628,300 in March 2020 to 1,399,400 in April 2020.
Among Louisiana’s metropolitan statistical areas in April 2020, seasonally adjusted data shows:
—Alexandria lost 5,900 jobs from April 2019 and 5,000 jobs from March 2020.
—Baton Rouge lost 52,900 jobs from April 2019 and 54,100 jobs from March 2020.
—Hammond lost 5,200 jobs from April 2019 and 4,900 jobs from March 2020.
—Houma lost 7,600 jobs from April 2019 and 6,000 jobs from March 2020.
—Lafayette lost 26,800 jobs from April 2019 and 21,800 jobs from March 2020.
—Lake Charles lost 23,400 jobs from April 2019 and 15,600 jobs from March 2020.
—Monroe lost 7,600 jobs from April 2019 and 6,900 jobs from March 2020.
—New Orleans lost 98,700 jobs from April 2019 and 85,600 jobs from March 2020.
—Shreveport lost 21,100 jobs from April 2019 and 18,700 jobs from March 2020.
“As Louisiana, like the rest of the nation, works to rebuild our economy, the unprecedented public health emergency brought on by COVID-19 is not only deeply impacting the health of our people but also the health of our economy,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards.
“However, as we battle this pandemic recession we know that we have come back before from such challenging times and we will again. We are committed to helping our people and our businesses get back on their feet in the safest way possible as soon as possible.”