Louisiana is on a winning streak of sorts in job growth.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Louisiana added 4,000 non-farm jobs last month and more than 20,000 non-farm jobs in the last year.
“We’ve seen 44 consecutive months with an over the year gain in our seasonally adjusted non-farm employment data series,” says Emily DiPalma, director of research and economic analysis at the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The unemployment rate ticked up two tenths of a point to 4.3%.
But DiPalma says that’s nothing to worry about
“Anything around in the range of a 4% to 5% unemployment rate is what we would still consider full employment,” DiPalma says.
A few sectors led the way in job growth.
“Private education and health services, construction and government sectors are our largest gainers,” says DiPalma, “with private education and health services gaining 10,000 jobs over the year.”
As for which metropolitan areas led the way in the number of new jobs created, the state’s two biggest ones topped the list.
“No surprise there — it’s New Orleans leading with 8,900 jobs over the year gained, and Baton Rouge in second with 1,900 jobs gained over the year,” DiPalma says. “Coming up behind those areas — Lafayette had 1,800 jobs added over the year.”
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