Job Growth Reported in Shreveport Area

Good news on the jobs front in Shreveport and the entire state of Louisiana. The unemployment rate across the state is down and each of the major metro areas is showing job growth.

Louisiana’s March 2021 unemployment fell to 6.6% from the February rate of 7.1%. This is the lowest not seasonally adjusted rate since March of last year before work came to a screeching halt for millions across the nation.

Here are the numbers from the major metro areas in our state:

• Alexandria: 4.4 percent, down from 4.8 percent in February and down from 5.4 percent in March 2020.

• Baton Rouge: 5.8 percent, down from 6.2 percent in February, but up from 4.9 percent in March 2020.

• Hammond: 7.4 percent, down from 8.0 percent in February, but up from 5.9 percent in March 2020.

• Houma: 5.7 percent, down from 6.2 percent in February, but up from 5.0 percent in March 2020.

• Lafayette: 6.0 percent, down from 6.5 percent in February, but up from 5.2 percent in March 2020.

• Lake Charles: 6.8 percent, down from 7.3 percent in February, but up from 4.9 percent in March 2020.

• Monroe: 5.8 percent, down from 6.2 percent in February and down from 5.9 percent in March 2020.

• New Orleans: 8.0 percent, down from 8.6 percent in February, but up from 4.9 percent in March 2020.

• Shreveport: 6.3 percent, down from 6.8 percent in February, but up from 5.5 percent in March 2020.

If you look at the parish wide numbers, Caddo Parish is one of the worst performers in the region with an unemployment rate of 7.4% Bossier Parish is one of the best performers with an unemployment rate of 4.5%. The rate in DeSoto Parish is 5.7% and it’s 6% in Webster Parish.

Industries that showed the largest gains are leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and mining and logging.