La. jobs bounce back in October
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Louisiana gained 5,000 jobs in October, the Louisiana Workforce Commission said this morning, after the state lost as many as 17,500 jobs in September.
The 17,500 figure was based on federal seasonal adjustment models. The actual job loss for September was estimated at 4,500, but it came in a back-to-school month that usually sees the state post significant job gains.
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, theorized to have been the main September culprit, likely were to blame for the poor September performance, said Tim Barfield, the commission’s executive director.
“It appears that the hurricanes did have a significant effect on our employment in September and that we’ve rebounded considerably from that,” said Barfield, citing a 5.5 percent state unemployment rate as evidence Louisiana is outperforming the nation, which has a 6.5 percent jobless rate. The state has 10,000 more jobs than a year ago.
Louisiana did see an increase in unemployment of nearly 8,000 people in October to 114,000. The number of employed rose by about 400 to 1.95 million.
In Baton Rouge, jobs are up 1,300 on the year. Lafayette has seen a 2,600-job annual increase, and New Orleans employment is up 9,600 since October 2007. Other metro areas showed increases except Houma (down 900 jobs on the year) and Monroe (down 800).
Alexandria employment was unchanged for the year while Shreveport was up 2,100 jobs and Lake Charles increased by 200.
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