Tensas Parish unemployment rate falls during February

Tensas Parish’s unemployment rate fell half a percent from January to February according to figures released Monday by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
Tensas’ rate fell from 10 percent in January to 9.5 percent in February. This is also down from 10.9 in February a year ago.
This means 159 people were seeking work in Tensas Parish in February, down from 170 in January and 189 a year ago.
The number of people employed in the parish was 1,517 in February, up from 1,522 in January, but down from 1,552 a year ago.
Beauregard and Jackson parishes had the lowest unemployment in the state with 5.6 percent.
West Carroll Parish had the state’s highest unemployment with 12.8 percent.
Louisiana’s total civilian labor force rose by more than 10,000 people during February, the second consecutive over the month increase after 12 months of declines, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The state’s unemployment rate for February was 5.9 percent, unchanged from January but down from 6.7 percent in February 2015.
For the month, the civilian labor force – the number of people employed and unemployed but looking for a job – rose to 2,146,368, a gain of 10,428. The number of people employed grew by 8,000 over January, the largest over-the-month increase for the month of February since 1977. The BLS report showed 2,018,807 people had jobs in Louisiana during February.
“The increase in the civilian labor force may be a cautious signal that job-seekers are gaining confidence that they can find employment in our state despite the downturn in the oil and gas industry,” said Louisiana Workforce Commission Executive Director Ava Dejoie.
Nonfarm jobs in February totaled 1,978,500, down 4,700 from January and 18,700 from a year ago. Louisiana continued to feel the impact of low oil prices as the mining and logging sector, which includes oil and gas, lost 1,200 jobs for the month and 11,300 over the year.
Over the month, construction lost 4,700 jobs but is up 3,400 over the year. Leisure and hospitality lost 2,700 jobs in February and is down 200 over the year.
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