Tri-Parish unemployment rates are down from January, but remain up from a year ago, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics were released Tuesday.
February unemployment rates were:
— Evangeline Parish, 6.9%, down from 7.1% in January and up from 4.9% in February 2020.
— St. Landry Parish, 7.7%, down from 8.3% in January, and up from 5.6% in February 2020.
— Acadia Parish, 6.1%, down from 6.6% in January and up 4.5% in February 2020.
The statistics are not seasonally adjusted for factors such as holidays and weather.
The Tri-Parish workforce was 66,594 in February, down from 69,053 in February 2020 or 3.6%.
The workforce includes people working those looking for a job.
The workforce counts by parish for February are:
— Evangeline, 11,631, down from 12,149 or 4.3% from February 2020.
— St. Landry, 31,972, down from 32,662 or 2.1% from February 2020.
— Acadia, 22,991, down from 24,242 or 5.2% from February 2020.
The state unemployment rate in February was 7.1%, down from 7.6% in January, but up from 4.2% in January 2020. This is the lowest not seasonally adjusted rate since the March 2020 pre-pandemic rate of 5.3%. The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also fell over the month in all nine of Louisiana’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA).
Since January, not seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment increased by 14,700 jobs from 1,815,900 to 1,830,600 in February. When compared to February 2020, not seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment decreased by 158,000 jobs.
Since January, not seasonally adjusted total private employment increased by 10,300 jobs from 1,501,300 to 1,511,600 in February 2021. When compared to February 2020, not seasonally adjusted private sector employment decreased by 143,000 jobs.
Industries that showed the largest gains for not seasonally adjusted jobs for February:
— Leisure and Hospitality gained 3,400 jobs from January.
— Professional and Business Services added 3,200 jobs from January.
— Construction added 1,700 jobs from January.
— Trade, Transportation, and Utilities added 1,700 jobs from January.
The number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals increased by 3,625 from 1,894,136 in January to 1,897,761 in February. When compared to February 2020, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals decreased by 150,081.
The number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals decreased by 11,114 from 155,458 in January to 144,344 in February. When compared to February 2020, the number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals increased by 53,934.
Not seasonally adjusted February unemployment rates for Louisiana’s nine MSAs are as follows:
— Alexandria: 4.7%, down from 5.2% in January, but up from 4.4% in February 2020.
— Baton Rouge: 6.2%, down from 6.7% in January, but up from 3.8% in February 2020.
— Hammond: 8%, down from 8.7% in January, but up from 4.6% in February 2020.
— Houma: 6.2%, down from 6.7% in January, but up from 3.9% in February 2020.
— Lafayette: 6.5%, down from 7% in January, but up from 4.2% in February 2020.
— Lake Charles: 7.3%, down from 8.1% in January, but up from 3.9% in February 2020.
— Monroe: 6.2%, down from 6.6% in January, but up from 4.9% in February 2020.
— New Orleans: 8.6%, down from 9.1% in January, but up from 3.8% in February 2020.
— Shreveport: 6.8%, down from 7.3% in January, but up from 4.5% in February 2020.
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Staff Report