Jobless rate increases 4% in November

While the number of available jobs has increased around the state, so has the number of people who are unemployed, Terrebonne and Lafourche being two of the parishes experiencing a loss of workers.

The Louisiana Department of Labor released two sets of data on Dec. 28; one proving the state’s steady economic growth, while the other may signify future economic uncertainty.

Statewide nearly 1,500 new, non-farm jobs were added to the market from October to November in 2006. Over the last year, 59,000 new jobs were created in Louisiana.

For some reason a disparity remains between those new jobs and the percentage of residents obtaining employment.

The unemployment rate rose from 4.2 percent in October to 4.5 percent in November, leveling off at the nation average. Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes followed suit, with the jobless rate in both increasing .2 percent in the state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas survey.

Patty Lopez, a market analyst for the state’s labor department, attributed the heightened unemployment rate to the increasing amount of people who are now entering the job market looking for work.

Despite the state unemployment numbers, Lopez said the overall picture is encouraging and the addition of 1,400 jobs from October to November shows “good, strong, steady growth.”

“It’s reassuring, because it shows the economy is still moving upward,” she said.

Eight sectors in Louisiana saw an upsurge in available jobs; professional and business services topping the list with an increase of 1,100 positions. Other booming industries include manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, education, and financial and information services.

Some industries took a hit. The construction and government sectors lost 300 jobs each, and the industry bearing the greatest loss was the trade, transportation and utilities sector n losing about 1,500 available jobs.

The lack of construction jobs may seem odd given the recovery situation Louisiana faces; Lopez attributes those losses to seasonal and industry fluctuations.

State officials are optimistic by the current findings, hoping the current job market is an indicator of long-term growth.

“Post hurricane job growth continued to be reflected in the November non-farm employment figures… Not only are we adding non-farm jobs both monthly and annually but the state’s unemployment rate has been at of below the national level since June of this year,” said Louisiana’s Secretary of Labor John Warner Smith.

The Associated Press contributed to portions of this article.