For October, Louisiana's unemployment rate ranked among the nation's best, with the Lafayette metropolitan area reporting the lowest jobless rate in the state.
Louisiana's unemployment rate continued its downward trend in October, dropping from 7 percent in September to 6.6 percent, according to data released Tuesday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That represents a 5 percentage point drop from the 7.1 percent unemployment rate reported for the same months last year, figures show.
Of the state's eight metropolitan statistical areas, the lowest October jobless rate was reported by the Lafayette MSA at 4.2 percent, which is 12 percentage points lower than last year's rate.
October's numbers also show the state's unemployment rate continues to be lower than the national average, which finished the month at 7.9 percent. That gives Louisiana the 16th best jobless rate in the nation, and the third lowest in the South, which had a combined 7.6 percent unemployment rate for the month.
"More jobs, more people working and fewer unemployed indicate our labor markets in Louisiana are doing well," says Louisiana Workforce Commission executive director Curt Eysink in a prepared statement accompanying Tuesday's release. "Our employment growth has been consistent over more than two years and the growth has been spread across most industry sectors. These broad-based and consistent improvements make Louisiana more competitive than ever as a place to grow a business or find a job."
Click here for all the data included in Louisiana's October labor report.