Louisiana drops 1,800 jobs in June

NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana lost 1,800 jobs in June, mostly the result of a drop in education jobs at the end of the school year, the state labor agency said Friday.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission said the state gained a net 700 non-farm jobs in the private sector last month. The goods-producing sector added 700 jobs while the service-providing sector shed 2,500.

Also, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell last week by 10 percent from the previous week. It was the first time in five months that new jobless claims were below the number filed for the comparable week of 2008, the state said.

Since June 2008, the state has lost 14,800 jobs, mostly because of steep declines in manufacturing.

Louisiana's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.8 percent in June, up from 6.6 percent in May. That's the ninth lowest jobless rate in the country, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The national unemployment rate for June was 9.5 percent, up from 9.4 percent in May.

Commission executive director Tim Barfield said the report was encouraging, in light of the routine drop in education jobs during the summer months.

"The drop last month was smaller than the drop in June 2008," Barfield said. "Despite that seasonal effect, the private sector gains in people working are a very positive sign for our economy."

In the goods-producing sector, construction added 700 jobs in June, petroleum added 300, but manufacturing fell by 300. In the service-providing sector, gains were recorded in trade and transportation, professional and business services, information and leisure and hospitality. Losses hit the financial sector, education-health services and government.

On Friday, the Workforce Commission said there were 4,879 initial jobless claims last week, down from 5,367 the previous week and 4,943 for the week ending July 19, 2008.

Still, there was an increase in the number of continued weeks of benefits for people still looking for work: 62,387 last week from 61,275 the previous week and 27,810 for the week ending July 19, 2008.

Among the state's metropolitan areas, Baton Rouge was the only region with a year-to-year gain in non-farm jobs, adding a net 500. The biggest loser was the New Orleans area, which dropped 4,800. Over the month, two areas added jobs: Baton Rouge and Alexandria, with 300 each. Again, New Orleans took the biggest hit, losing 1,200 jobs in June.

Last month, there were 22,370 new and renewed claims for jobless benefits, compared with 19,742 in May and 13,259 in June 2008. In June, 3,178 recipients ran out of benefits, compared with 2,990 in May and 2,080 in June 2008.

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