NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Louisiana’s unemployment rate hit 5 percent in August, worsening for the fifth straight month.
The state’s jobless rate rose from 4.9 percent in July and was above August 2017’s level, also 4.9 percent.
For the third month in a row, Louisiana saw the number of people with a job declined faster than a shrinking workforce, pushing the number of unemployed people up to nearly 107,000.
The separate employer payroll survey - many economists’ top labor market indicator - was flat at 1.99 million. Payrolls remain 16,000 above year-ago levels, thanks to gains in early 2018.
July’s U.S. unemployment was level from July to August at 3.9 percent. Louisiana has the third-highest jobless rate among states.
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This story has been corrected to show unemployment rose for the fifth straight month, not the fourth straight month, as headlines stated.
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