Open for business: Tiger Honda of Gonzales, a new and used car dealership, will open Monday at 13325 S. Airline Hwy in Gonzales. The dealership will be located at the corner of Airline Highway and Babin Road. Tiger Honda is a 10-acre, 42,000-square-foot facility that will also include a parts and service department. The dealership’s team will include a staff of 70 people, including sales staff and service technicians. Tiger Honda of Gonzales is owned by José Pozos and Sam Pack. Pozos is also the owner of the a Ford Lincoln dealership in Wichita Falls, Texas, and Pack owns a group of dealerships in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In need of jobs: Louisiana’s unemployment rate rose in April, as more people again entered the labor force than could find jobs. The Associated Press reports the state’s jobless rate rose to 6.3%, up from 6.1% in March, but below April 2015’s 6.5% rate. A separate survey shows payrolls eked out small gains in April but remained 12,000 below year-ago levels, signaling continued weakness in Louisiana’s economy. Oil and gas employment losses slowed, but levels remained nearly 9,000 below last year. The unemployment rate is the fourth-worst among states, remaining above the nation’s 5% rate. Both sets of figures, adjusted to cancel out seasonal changes, were released today by the U.S. Labor Department. The number of unemployed Louisianans rose to 136,000 in April, up by 4,000 from March but about 5,000 fewer than in April 2015.
Back up: Louisiana gained seven active oil and gas rigs this week, bringing the total number of active rigs in the state to 47, according to Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The state gained one rig in north Louisiana, increasing the total from 14 to 15, and three rigs inland on water in south Louisiana, which had two rigs last week and finished this week with five. The offshore active rigs totaled 23, up from 20 last week. Active south Louisiana rigs inland remained at 4. Louisiana had 69 rigs for the same period last year. Meanwhile, the U.S. rig count remained unchanged this week, breaking an eight-week decline, Business Insider reports. The gas rig count fell two to 85, and the oil rig tally totaled 318, taking the combined count down two to 404. That’s a level not seen since the series began in 1947. Read the full story.
