The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is a statistical area (MSA) that covers the parishes of Caddo, Bossier, Webster, and Desoto.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just reported that the Shreveport MSA lost 3100 jobs from July 2018 through July 2019. The area lost 200 jobs in June 2019.
Other Louisiana cities with job losses included Alexandria (100 for year, unchanged for July), Baton Rouge (1900 for the year, 1100 in July), Hammond (100 for the year, 100 for July), Houma (2900 for the year and 100 for July), and Monroe (500 for year, 300 for July).Cities with a net job gain were Lafayette (1800 for year, 100 for July), and New Orleans (8200 for year, 100 for July.) Lake Charles had a gain of 1000 for the year, despite a loss of 100 jobs in July.
Louisiana was the only state that lost employment for the year ending July 2019.
Of interest is the fact that the Louisiana Workforce Commission reported an increase of 1100 private-sector jobs in the year ending in July 2019. The BLS reports that the state lost more than 2000 government jobs in that interval.
Overall the state’s unemployment rate declined from 5 percent in July 2018 to 4.3 percent in July 2019.
These job numbers have been "seasonally adjusted." This means the data has been tweaked to reduce the impact of predictable seasonal trends such as changes in weather, major holidays and harvest seasons.
Story by John Settle
