Unemployment rises
in St. Tammany Parish

By Debbie Glover
St. Tammany Parish
Published on Sunday, October 25, 2009 1:18 AM CDT

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St. Tammany Parish’s unemployment rate made a small jump from 5.3 percent in July to 5.7 percent in August according to the latest civilian labor force released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

A year ago, the unemployment rate was 4.0 in the parish, or 4,879. The number of people looking for work is now at 6,796 with 111,807 employed.

This is 40 percent lower than the national rate of 9.6 percent, and about a third less than the state, which is currently at 8.1 percent.

The lowest rate in the state is in Lafourche Parish with 5.3 percent and the highest unemployment rate is in West Carroll Parish with 18.1 percent.

Louisiana has the 18th lowest unemployment rate in the country. The southern regional average rate is 9.2.

The civilian labor force statistics are estimated from a residential-based sample survey by place of residence.

In addition to the unemployment rates, the LWC showed that some industries did show growth in August statewide, including construction, education and health services, government, mining, logging and financial activities.

Industries that showed decreases in employment include manufacturing, trade, transportation and utilities. There were also drops in the fields of information, professional and business services and leisure and hospitality The LWC said the decrease in leisure and hospitality jobs is due to a scale back of activities after the summer.

Executive Director of the LWC Curt Eysink said, “The declines in these sectors mirror what is happening across the country as the national recession persists.”

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