Statistics from the Federal Bureau of Labor show that Louisiana, with over 2 million employees, sets record February 2023 employment numbers, the eighth-highest in series history. Louisiana added more than 6,000 jobs from January to February, which is one of the largest increases in the nation, according to Mark Jones of the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
“The big number for us when we look at the national numbers, that was the eighth highest among the states this month, the eighth highest percentage change for the month among the nation.”
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 3.6%, up 0.1% from last month but still one of the lowest in series history. Education and health services have added 3,400 jobs since January and the leisure and hospitality industries have added 1,200 jobs, and Jones said it was nothing new.
“We are seeing some strong advances in both education and healthcare. We’ve added jobs in these areas in 16 of the last 17 months over the last 17 months and we’re seeing strong growth in manufacturing.”
Jones said Louisiana has shown manufacturing gains in 19 of the last 20 months over the past two years, adding 400 this February.
New Orleans led the way, adding 2,700 new jobs this month, mostly in the leisure and hospitality industries. Despite having only the eighth-largest job market in the state, Jones said Alexandria’s 600 new jobs are the second most in the state.
“They’ve added jobs for 23 consecutive months over the years, so Alexandria, a smaller area, but they’ve been growing steadily over the last two years.”
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