Dear friends and colleagues,
Grim unemployment numbers have been a fixture of the news cycle for nearly three months. Today, The Data Center releases an analysis of unemployment insurance numbers from the Louisiana Workforce Commission updated to cover the pandemic from mid-March through early June, as well as preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reflecting the regional employment situation in mid-April. This new data begins to bring the scale of pandemic job losses in our region and the importance of extended unemployment insurance for residents into clearer focus.
For the week ending June 6, the state of Louisiana received 498,000 new and continuing unemployment insurance claims. One-third of these claims are through the CARES Act provision that broadens unemployment insurance to cover self-employed workers and others who typically are not eligible.
In the 8-parish New Orleans metro, more than 110,000 workers either received benefits or filed an initial unemployment insurance claim in the week ending June 6. Preliminary estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that total metro employment fell by 99,000 between February and April. To say the least, these are all staggering numbers.
Find the updated jobs numbers at:
Bringing you the data you need to make informed decisions,
The Data Center Team
Rachel Weinstein, Arthur Rymer, Katrina Andry, Erica Amrine, Allison Plyer, Dabne Whitemore, Jenna Losh, Don Asay, Robby Habans, Lamar Gardere, and Cody Brumfield, and Amy Teller
