La. jobless rate drops to 7.8%

Louisiana’s unemployment rate dropped in June to 7.8% as job growth in the private sector continued to outweigh losses in government employment, the state Workforce Commission reported today. The rate for May was 8.2%. The figures are adjusted for seasonal factors. In June 2010, the state’s jobless rate was 7.5%. Last month, the number of people listed as unemployed fell to 160,400 from 169,700 in May. At the same time, the civilian labor force, including the employed and those actively seeking work, fell by 15,100. During the economic downturn, economists have typically attributed part of a labor force downturn to people stopping their job hunts, as well as to those who got jobs. Still, Louisiana was only one of eight states that recorded jobless rate declines from May to June. Increases hit 28 states, while 14 states were unchanged. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Louisiana had 27,800 more private-sector jobs in June than in June 2010. Over the same time period, government employment fell by 15,200. The leading sectors included private education-health services, leisure-hospitality and manufacturing. The state releases non-seasonally adjusted job figures for Louisiana and metropolitan areas on Wednesday.