Despite Energy Job Losses, South Central States Report Some Employment Gains

While oil and gas industry job losses had an impact in the South Central states over the last year, Arkansas, Louisiana Oklahoma and Texas still saw decreases in unemployment rates in 2015.

Year-over-year from 2014 to 2015, unemployment rates fell in the South Central states, with Arkansas seeing the biggest change, from 6.1 percent in 2014 to 5.2 percent in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Across the United States in January 2016, the unemployment rate at the end of February 2016 held steady at 4.9 percent, according to federal labor officials, with total non-farm payroll employment increasing by 242,000.

Employment gains occurred in healthcare and social assistance, retail trade, food services and drinking places, and private educational services, while mining industries such as the oil and gas sector continued to lose jobs, the BLS reported.

In the South, which according to the BLS includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, wages and salaries averaged $20.76 per hour, representing 70.9 percent of total employer compensation. Benefits at $8.51 per hour, accounted for the remaining 29.1 percent. The largest benefit category — required benefits — averaged $2.24 per hour. Insurance benefits — the second largest benefit category — averaged $2.22 per hour, or 7.6 percent of total compensation costs.

Overall, compensation costs among private industry employers in the United States averaged $31.70 per hour worked in December 2015. Wages and salaries, at $22.14 per hour, accounted for 69.8 percent of these costs, while benefits, at $9.57, made up the remaining 30.2 percent.

South Central States at a Glance

Arkansas gained jobs throughout 2015, increasing its nonfarm payroll employment by 19,500 jobs. In December 2015, 2,600 jobs were added, with six major industry sectors gaining jobs, and five sectors declining slightly. The largest increase occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities with 2,500 jobs added, according to Discover Arkansas, the state’s source for labor market information. Manufacturing added 1,300 jobs, the majority of which were in nondurable goods manufacturing — with a gain of 1,000 jobs.

Louisiana’s employment picture was negatively affected by low oil prices in 2015. However, BLS figures still show a slight downward trend in the unemployment rate in the state overall, from 6.2 percent in 2014 to 6.1 percent in 2015. In January 2016, the unemployment rate fell slightly again — to 5.9 percent. The Louisiana Workforce Commission reported that the New Orleans area in January showed more jobs than in any month since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, while employment in Baton Rouge set an all-time record.

New benchmarked data show the average total number of seasonally-adjusted annual nonfarm jobs in 2015 in Louisiana was 1,989,600, or 2,900 more jobs than earlier estimates. Still from January 2015 through December 2015, there was a loss of 15,300 private sector jobs, 10,100 more than the pre-benchmarked figures showed. The mining and logging sector was responsible for most of the losses, showing 12,100 fewer jobs than in January 2014.

Oklahoma in 2015 lost 13,800 jobs in mining/logging industries and 9,000 jobs in manufacturing, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. However, the state saw a rise in the leisure/hospitality sector, with 7,500 jobs added over the last year. In January 2016, Oklahoma added another 2,900 jobs, including 1,700 jobs in education/health services, according to the OESC reported.

Texas, too, has been impacted by the loss of jobs in energy related industries, but the state nevertheless added 157,300 private-sector jobs during 2015, for a 1.6 percent annual growth rate. Another 31,400 jobs were added in January 2016, including 7,300 jobs in the leisure/hospitality industries, which experienced job growth for the 10th consecutive month, and 4,300 jobs in manufacturing, representing the larges month-to-month gain since April 2014, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

This table shows the average annual unemployment rates (as a percentage of the labor force) for South Central states in 2015 compared with 2014, as reported by the BLS. The rate for January 2016 is also shown.