The Employment Picture

Baton Rouge — Even though there were more people working in November 2007 than in October 2007, there were also more people looking for jobs — more people in the workforce, period — thus unemployment rose slightly between the two months.

This was true in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana and the United States as a whole.

The comparison is based on figures provided by the Louisiana Department of Labor, which do not include seasonal farm jobs.

The figures show that while unemployment has grown slightly from last October to November in the parish and in the state, it is still down from November of 2006.

Unemployment in St. Martin Parish was 3.1 percent in November 2006, 2.5 percent in October 2007, and 2.7 percent in November 2007.

The Lafayette Municipal Statistical Area, of which St. Martin is part, tracks slightly better than the parish, 2.7 percent unemployment in November 2006, 2.1 percent in October 2007, and 2.3 percent last November.

The state went from 3.8 percent to 3 percent to 3.2 percent over the same periods.

And in the same time frame, unemployment in the nation has steadily risen, from 4.3 percent to 4.4 to 4.5 percent for last November.

According to the state Labor Department, jobs in natural resources and mining, which includes the oil and gas industry, went down, from 51,100 in October 2007 to 50,600 in November, while jobs in a number of other sectors rose: construction, 137,400 to 137,900; manufacturing, 153,400 to 153,800; trade, transportation and utilities, 386,000 to 386,200; information, 25,800 to 25,900; financial activities, 97,500 to 97,700; professional and business services, 200,200 to 200,600; leisure and hospitality, 197,100 to 197,600; and government, 360,500 to 361,300. The only other sector showing a decline is educational and health services, from 246,300 to 246,100.