Pauline Kirbo Thames
February 10, 2009
Julia H. Richard
February 12, 2009The Houma-Thibodaux and Lafayette metropolitan areas continue to have the lowest unemployment rates in Louisiana at 3.8 percent, according to figures released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
Lafayette Parish had the state’s lowest parish-by-parish unemployment rate with 3.6 percent, followed by Lafourche at 3.7 and Terrebonne with 3.9 percent.
The three parishes had the only numbers under 4 percent.
But the rate for Houma-Thibodaux increased from 3.6 percent in November. The rate rose more than one percent from the 2.6 percent figure in Dec. 2007.
The December unemployment rate in St. Mary Parish increased to 5.1 percent from November’s 4.7 percent. The December 2007 number for St. Mary was 3.8 percent.
Houma-Thibodaux’s 96,200 nonfarm jobs represent a gain of 200 from November to December, but show a decrease of 300 from December 2007.
The civilian labor force for December in Houma-Thibodaux was 102,288, lower than November’s 103,220 but an increase from December 2007.
St. Mary Parish’s civilian labor force in December showed a similar pattern, falling to 23,776 from November’s 23,947. The number was 23,378 in December 2007.
For Houma-Thibodaux, a one-year drop of 1,000 in the number of goods-producing jobs from December 2007 (22,600) to December 2008 was offset by a gain of 700 jobs in the service-providing sector within the same period.
Construction and natural resources and mining made up more than 80 percent of the jobs in the goods-producing sector in the area.
Employment in trade, transportation and utilities made up most of the 74,600 jobs in the service-providing sector, followed by government and leisure and hospitality.
The state’s unemployment rate for December rose to 5.9 percent from November’s 5.3 percent and from a 4 percent rate in December 2007. Louisiana was the only state in the country showing a rise in nonfarm jobs from November to December.
