Louisiana Workforce Commission Executive Director Curt Eysink says new federal jobs data showing an increase in the Louisiana and Baton Rouge area unemployment rates in March reflects a growing pool of job seekers—rather than fewer jobs.
“Once again the increase in the unemployment rate is driven by the massive increase in people looking for work in Louisiana, not by layoffs,” Eysink says in a prepared statement. “Despite a modest increase in the unemployment rate, we have another month with a huge increase in the number of people who are working, and we saw a solid increase in the number of available jobs.”
The figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show Louisiana’s unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.4% in March, compared to the rate the previous month. Baton Rouge’s rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 5.6% last month.
However, Eysink points to figures showing growth in both Louisiana’s overall labor force and the number of those employed in March. The state’s civilian labor force grew by 27,906 in March, compared to February, and was up by 80,629 over labor force totals for March 2014. Those employed in the labor force grew by 22,488 over the month and 58,196 over the year. Eysink says both figures are the highest for the month of March in the state’s history.
The Baton Rouge metro area added 1,800 nonfarm jobs in March, compared to the month previous, and added 8,100 jobs over the year, making March the 51st consecutive month of over-the-year increases.
