Off to work: The Baton Rouge area gained 300 jobs in April, according to non-seasonally adjusted data from the Louisiana Workforce Commission. The region’s civilian labor force was up 900 jobs over the year, a 4.7% increase. All of the state’s nine metropolitan statistical areas saw an increase of nonfarm jobs in April, but Lake Charles and Lafayette had the greatest gains. Lake Charles gained 1,100 nonfarm jobs over the month and 5,800 over the year. Lafayette had an increase of 1,900 jobs over the month, but was down about 3,000 jobs over the year. Read the full report.
Going up: The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by seven this week to 908, up from 901 active rigs last week, The Associated Press reports. One year ago, there were 404 rigs. Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes says 722 rigs sought oil and 185 explored for natural gas this week. One was listed as miscellaneous. Louisiana’s rig count was unchanged from last week’s tally of 64 active rigs. Among major oil producing states Colorado added five rigs while Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma each gained one. Texas lost one rig. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out last May at 404.
In the spotlight: New Orleans Mitch Landrieu’s will appear on “Meet the Press” after a speech he delivered last week about the removal of Confederate monuments went viral. Landrieu’s speech has been praised by columnists in national publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post among others. In the speech, he warns against holding onto false narratives and urges readers to look at history honestly. New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote that Landrieu’s remarks “remind us that eloquence still exists.” Governing magazine reports former Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr praised Landrieu’s remarks in a keynote speech delivered to Governing‘s Summit on Government Performance & Innovation in Phoenix. Landrieu’s name has been tossed around as a possible Democratic candidate for president in 2020.
Editor’s note: The offices of Business Report will be closed on Monday, May 29, in observance of Memorial Day and Daily Report will not be published. Daily Report will resume publication on Tuesday, May 30. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
