Gustav behind Louisiana’s yearly job swoon

• Advocate business staff
• Published: Nov 25, 2009 - UPDATED: 1:10 p.m.

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Louisiana gained 4,700 jobs in October but fell further behind 2008’s employment pace, something for which Hurricane Gustav is partly responsible, state officials said.

Last year, Louisiana gained an unusually large 20,100 jobs from September to October amid a national recession. In 2007, the same monthly change was just 8,100 jobs, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

This October, Louisiana finds itself 44,000 jobs behind year-ago employment, more than twice as far behind as the state was in September.

“The October over-the-year decline is due in part to the uncharacteristically large increase in 2008 … as the state recovered from Gustav,” the commission’s executive director, Curt Eysink, said in a statement.

The Gustav job swoon was apparent in Baton Rouge, which was hit hard by the storm. In 2008, Baton Rouge gained 6,000 jobs from September to October as the Gustav cleanup and rebuild continued.

In 2007, the Baton Rouge metro area saw a 600-job gain between the same two months. This year there was no change, and Baton Rouge fell 7,800 jobs behind the 2008 employment pace.