LA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE - Preliminary data released late last Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Louisiana for April 2022 of 3.5%, which is the lowest rate ever recorded dating back to 1976. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.1% is grouped among the lowest three monthly rates recorded. Louisiana’s unemployment rate for April 2022 has declined over the year for 14 consecutive months after peaking in April 2020. The state has gained over 200,000 jobs since that time. The data shows more than 1,900,000 Louisianans are currently employed.
ARKANSAS JOBS - Employment in Arkansas increased for the fourth month in a row. The BLS data shows the number of employed in Arkansas during April has increased by over 34,000 jobs to an estimate of more than 1,300,000 million people employed or 2.7%, compared with April 2021, setting a record number of people employed in the state.
TEXAS UNEMPLOYMENT- Total employment in Texas has hit a record high for the sixth month in a row. The number of working Texans rose to 13,300,000 in April as the monthly jobless rate dropped a tenth of a point to 4.3%.
The Texas Workforce Commission reports the state added nearly 63 thousand non-farm jobs last month. That included 13 thousand 500 new hires in Leisure and Hospitality and nearly 9 thousand jobs in Education and Health Services. Regionally, the Amarillo and Austin areas held onto the lowest jobless rates in the state: both at 2.5%. Unemployment remained highest in the McAllen area at 6.8% followed by Beaumont/Port Arthur at 6.3%. Statewide, the unemployment rate has fallen nearly every month since hitting an all-time high of over 12% at the start of the pandemic in 2020. But it remains above the national average, which stood at 3 .6 in April.
