Louisiana’s unemployment rate is on the rise, reaching 7.6 percent in August, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday.
Louisiana was one of 27 states to report an increase in unemployment rates, showing little change from previous months. National rates for August remained unchanged from July’s 9.6 percent.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission reported that 8,630 more people than last month were listed as unemployed, a 0.4 percent increase from the July report. That total does not count those not actively seeking employment. The number of employed residents also fell by 4,165.
The downsizing of key industries contributed to this increase — trade, transportation and utilities lost 1,800 jobs, leisure-hospitality lost 1,400 and education-health services saw a decrease of 1,200.
Inversely, the civilian labor force experienced an influx of 4,500 people as the result of active job searches.
This number is a record high for Louisiana, said Curt Eysink, LWC executive director.
“These numbers reflect overall growth in the labor force, and the number of people working continues to grow more than the number who are unemployed and looking for work,” Eysink said.
The labor force grew by 31,606 with an increase of 23,721 during the past year.
The largest employment gain was within the government sector, which held 1,400 jobs as hiring began for the school year, according to the commission. Increases also grew in the mining and logging sectors, professional-business services, construction and information and manufacturing, totaling 2,000 more jobs for Louisiana.
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