Louisiana Adds More Jobs Year-Over-Year; Baton Rouge, Hammond MSAs Set Records
Preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) shows that the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, metropolitan statistical area (MSA) set another nonfarm employment record at 415,200 jobs for November 2019, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The Hammond MSA is also at record nonfarm employment at 46,700 jobs, the LWC said.
Seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased by 9,000 jobs from 1,984,400 in November 2018 to 1,993,400 jobs in November 2019. Seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment has added jobs over the year the past four months. Seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment is at its highest level since November 2015. From October 2019, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased by 4,100 jobs.
Seasonally adjusted private sector employment increased by 10,900 jobs from 1,656,900 in November 2018 to 1,667,800 jobs in November 2019. Seasonally adjusted private sector employment has added jobs over the year for 21 straight months. From October 2019, seasonally adjusted private sector employment increased by 4,400 jobs.
The number of seasonally adjusted employed individuals increased by 3,140 from 1,996,910 in November 2018 to 2,000,050 in November 2019. The number of seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals decreased by 3,727 from 102,439 in November 2018 to 98,712 in November 2019.
“Louisiana is open for business. Two metro areas are at a series high for employment, and total private employment has added jobs over the year for 21 straight months,” Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) Secretary Ava Dejoie said in a media release.
Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted civilian labor force, or the number of people who are employed in addition to those looking for work, increased by 3,490 from 2,095,272 in October 2019 to 2,098,762 in November 2019.
Compared to November 2018, Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points from 4.9 percent to 4.7 percent in November 2019.
Industries that showed the largest gains for seasonally adjusted jobs:
- Professional and Business Services gained 3,600 jobs from November 2018 and 500 jobs from October 2019. The Professional and Business Services sector is at series high employment at 216,700 jobs.
- Leisure and Hospitality gained 3,700 jobs from November 2018 and 1,800 jobs from October 2019. The Leisure and Hospitality sector is at series high employment at 240,700 jobs.
- Education and Health Services gained 7,000 jobs from November 2018 and 700 jobs from October 2019.
- Manufacturing gained 4,600 jobs from November 2018 and 1,300 jobs from October 2019.
- Mining and Logging gained 700 jobs from November 2018 and 200 jobs from October 2019.
Source: LWC