St. Mary Parish jobless rate down from 2013

Louisiana set two employment records in June and almost broke a third, the Louisiana Workforce Commission reported today.
The state set a new all-time high for not seasonally adjusted private sector employment in June.
Private sector employers added 26,300 jobs over the year, pushing private sector employment to a record 1,639,600, not seasonally adjusted data show. Those private sector gains pushed total nonfarm employment for the month to 1,972,500, according to a federal Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of 6,000 employers statewide and across industries.
Louisiana also set a record in June for the number of people employed in the civilian labor force — 2,013,688, according to a separate survey of 750 households. That’s an increase of 33,133 over the year. The total civilian labor force — defined as the number of employed plus those looking for work — was 2,135,386 in June, its second-highest point ever. The record was set in June 2013.
“Our civilian labor force is growing, more people are going to work and employers continue to create new jobs,” said Curt Eysink, LWC executive director. “Louisiana is doing well and we have a very strong growth forecast for years to come.”
St. Mary Parish’s unemployment rate in June was 6.1 percent, up from 5.8 percent in May, but down from 7.8 percent in June 2013.
There were 21,990 people employed in St. Mary Parish in June, up from 21,837 a year ago.
The number of unemployed people in Louisiana declined by 37,152 over the year to 121,698 in June.
Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June was 5.7 percent, 1.7 percentage points better than a year earlier. Not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates improved over the year in all eight metro areas and in every parish, the LWC reported.
Nationally, the June rate was 6.3 percent, down from 7.8 percent a year earlier.
Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted June unemployment rates improved over the year in all eight metro areas as follows:
—Alexandria: 6.1 percent, down from 7.7 percent in June 2013;
—Baton Rouge: 5.4 percent, down from 7.3 percent;
—Houma: 3.9 percent, down from 5.2 percent;
—Lafayette: 4.4 percent, down from 5.7 percent;
—Lake Charles: 5.0 percent, down from 6.8 percent;
—Monroe: 6.1 percent, down from 7.9 percent;
—New Orleans: 5.7 percent, down from 7.4 percent;
—Shreveport: 6.1 percent, down from 7.9 percent.
Among employment sectors, leisure and hospitality added the most jobs over the year, with 8,600, not seasonally adjusted data show. Professional and business services added 6,300 jobs, and trade, transportation, and utilities rounded out the top three, adding 5,600 jobs over the year.
Government had the biggest over-the-year decline with 5,900 fewer federal, state and local government jobs. The only other sectors that lost jobs over the year were information, down 4,000 jobs, and mining and logging, which was down 1,200.
Total nonfarm employment rose over the year in seven of the state’s eight metro areas, not seasonally adjusted data show. Baton Rouge added the most jobs with 12,700, followed by New Orleans with 8,100 and Lake Charles with 3,800. The only metro area with a decline was Alexandria, which was down 300.
Not seasonally adjusted data are useful for comparing trends in parishes and metropolitan statistical areas, and for comparing them to the state. Seasonally adjusted data, on the other hand, are useful for comparisons among states and the nation.