Louisiana saw its annual average unemployment rate drop only slightly last year, to 4.8% from 4.9% in 2018, according to new figures released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At 4.8%, the state’s average unemployment rate was higher than the national rate of 3.7. Only four states—Alaska, New Mexico, West Virginia and Mississippi—and Washington, D.C., posted higher rates than Louisiana. There were approximately 101,000 unemployed persons in the state on average in 2019, down from the 103,000 reported for 2018.
Louisiana was also listed among the states with an employment-population ratio—the proportion of the civilian population 16 years old and over who are employed—that is significantly different from the national ratio. The state’s employment-population ratio is 55.8%, while the national rate is 60.8%.
The state’s employment figures dropped by some 8,000 persons on average from 2018 to 2019, while the state’s civilian labor force dropped by some 9,000 workers, according to the report.
Overall, only 10 states saw significant decreases in its average annual unemployment rates. One state saw its rate increase and 39 states, including Louisiana, saw minimal changes. The U.S. jobless rate declined by .2 percentage points from the previous year, to 3.7%, while the national employment-population ratio grew by .4 to 60.8%.
