La. loses 900 jobs in September

• By GARY PERILLOUX
• Advocate business writer
• Published: Oct 24, 2009 - Page: 6B

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Louisiana employment fell to its lowest September level since 2002 — excepting the two Septembers following Hurricane Katrina — as the recession contributed to a sixth consecutive monthly loss in jobs for the state.

The 900-job loss reported Friday by the Louisiana Workforce Commission is the smallest in the streak, but Louisiana typically gains jobs in September with increased private and public school employment.

This September, there are 19,500 fewer jobs than a year ago, a month that saw a 14,000-job loss that was induced largely by Hurricane Gustav.

The state’s total employment of 1.908 million last month is about on par with September 2003, when there were 600 more jobs.

“My expectation is that we’ll probably continue to show job losses through the first quarter of next year before we start to grow again,” said Baton Rouge economist Loren Scott. Indicators show the national economy bottoming out and improving in some areas, such as housing, but jobs don’t bounce back immediately, he said.

“Folks just need to understand that the employment side does not improve simultaneously with the economy,” Scott said, adding that a six- to seven-month hiring lag is common after a recession.

Baton Rouge showed a very slight monthly improvement in its employment, a 100-job gain. But like most of the state’s metro areas, its job numbers are down from a year ago, with a 2,200-job decline to about 370,000.

Lafayette is down 1,400 jobs from a year earlier and New Orleans is off 1,800 jobs from September 2008, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission report.

The good news, state officials said, is that Louisiana is gaining jobs in some sectors.

“Louisiana has continued to generate jobs in the construction, health care and education sectors during the economic downturn,” Curt Eysink, the commission’s executive director, said in a statement. Gains in those sectors are bucking national trends, he said.

Louisiana’s construction sector, with 138,100 workers, is 2,900 jobs larger than one year ago. Its education and health services sector is up 6,000 jobs from a year ago, to 262,200.

Still, troubling signs persist in the manufacturing and oil and gas sectors.

Manufacturing shed 2,200 more jobs in September; it’s down 10,200 jobs from a year ago. The mining and logging sector, with 52,000 workers, is 3,200 jobs smaller than a year ago.