The Baton Rouge area ranked first among all Louisiana metro areas for job creation in February, adding 2,800 jobs for the month and 5,300 over the year.
In addition, Baton Rouge’s not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell 4.6% in February, down from 4.8% for the month one year ago, the Louisiana Workforce Commission says in its latest jobs report. The Capital Region’s unemployment rate is second among Louisiana’s metro areas. Lake Charles has the lowest at 4.2%, while New Orleans is third at 4.8%.
Almost all metro areas in Louisiana experienced month-over-month gains in February. The lone exception was Alexandria, which showed no change for the month and was down 100 jobs over the year.
Lafayette, which has been ravaged by the downturn in the oil and gas industry, had the second largest over-the-month gain of 1,100 jobs, though it was down 6,700 for the year.
In other metro areas, Lake Charles added 100 jobs for the month, Houma added 500 jobs, Monroe gained 400, New Orleans added 500 and Shreveport gained 300. Of those MSAs, all were up over the year except for Shreveport and Houma.
The LWC says seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs statewide rose by 3,000 year over year and by 6,700 over the month to roughly 1,982,400.
The state showed gains in key areas for the first time in over a year, the commission says.
Private seasonally adjusted jobs rose by 5,700 over the year and 7,400 over the month to 1,658,800.
“These latest figures demonstrate our commitment to developing a skilled workforce and creating a climate that helps businesses statewide to thrive,” Gov. John Bel Edwards says in a statement. “We will keep moving forward and building on this momentum.”
Industries that saw the biggest gains include professional and business services, which is up 5,400 jobs over the month and 3,100 over the year; and construction, which gained 2,600 jobs over the month and 13,500 over the year.
Other services—which includes industries such as equipment and machinery repair and services—gained 2,500 jobs over the year.
“These numbers represent the first over-the-year gains for seasonally adjusted nonfarm and private employment since August 2015,” the LWC’s report says. “February also marked the largest over-the-month increase in seasonally adjusted employed individuals since September of 1983, which grew by 8,427.”
The state’s total civilian labor force rose to a seasonally adjusted amount of 2,106,632, an over-the-month gain of 6,999, the commission says.
—Alexandria Burris
