Louisiana Unemployment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the division of the Cabinet level Department of Labor that is bears the responsibility for the federal Government of the United States of America of compiling information about economic data for the entire nation.

After collecting the information, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes this information in terms of statewide figures and information about specific major metropolitan areas. In terms of Louisiana unemployment and economic information, there are eight major metropolitan areas which the Bureau of Labor Statistics focuses upon.

These areas are: the Alexandria metropolitan area, the Baton Rouge metropolitan area, the Houma – Bayou Cane – Thibodaux metropolitan area, the Lafayette metropolitan area, the Lake Charles metropolitan area, the Monroe metropolitan area, the New Orleans – Metairie – Kenner metropolitan area, and the Shreveport – Bossier City metropolitan area.

When examining the most recent six month period for which information is available, the information on Louisiana unemployment indicates that the Louisiana unemployment rate has been increasing. In March 2010, the Louisiana unemployment rate was 6.9 percent, meaning that Louisiana unemployment eligibility was extended to 143.7 thousand people out of a workforce of 2,084.5 thousand.

By August 2010, the most recent period for which Louisiana job data is available, the labor force had expanded to 2,099 thousand people, with almost the entire growth happening in the rosters of the unemployed, as the number of Louisiana unemployed swelled to 158.9 thousand. This brought the Louisiana unemployment rate to 7.6 percent.

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