Tri-parishes post state’s lowest jobless rate

For the third consecutive month in March, the Houma-Thibodaux area has had the lowest unemployment rate of all metro areas in the country at 3.6 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The rate in Lafourche Parish for March was 3.5 percent – the lowest in the state – and in Terrebonne, 3.7 percent.

The rate for St. Mary Parish was 5.8.

The Lafayette metro area, which has run neck and neck with Houma-Thibodaux in recent months, slipped down to a 4.1 percent unemployment rate in March, though Lafayette Parish was the only other parish in the state to post a rate below 4 percent.

The New Orleans area had the lowest unemployment rate of the big metro areas in the country in March at 5.3 percent.

The rate for Louisiana was 5.7 percent. The state’s 1,938,200 jobs in March are the highest on record, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

The Houma-Thibodaux area gained 1,500 jobs from March 2008 to March 2009, though jobs in the oil and gas sector declined over the same period.

The Trade, Transportation, and Utilities sector provided the most private jobs in March at 25,300, an increase of 900 from March 2008.

The 14,100 jobs in government in Houma-Thibodaux remained the same from last March, the commission reported.