Lake Charles, Louisiana Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Lake Charles fell 1.4 percentage points in May 2020 to 13.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than the Louisiana rate. The unemployment rate in Lake Charles peaked in April 2020 at 14.9% and is now 1.4 percentage points lower. You can also compare Lake Charles unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	May 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	13.3%	-1.4	+9.7
Louisiana	13.3%	-1.8	+8.8
Lake Charles	13.5%	-1.4	+9.7

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with May 2020 data as June metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Lake Charles, Louisiana, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Lake Charles, Louisiana Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Lake Charles peaked in April 2020 at 14,618. There are now 138 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Lake Charles employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Lake Charles, Louisiana) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	May 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
Lake Charles	14,480	-138	+10,311

Number of Unemployed Persons

Lake Charles, Louisiana Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Louisiana Unemployment Rate	Lake Charles Unemployment Rate	Lake Charles Unemployed
June 2020	11.1%	—	—	—
May 2020	13.3%	13.3%	13.5%	14,480
April 2020	14.7%	15.1%	14.9%	14,618
March 2020	4.4%	6.7%	6.5%	6,963
February 2020	3.5%	5.2%	4.7%	5,124
January 2020	3.6%	5.3%	4.6%	5,022
December 2019	3.5%	5.2%	4.7%	5,118
November 2019	3.5%	5.2%	4.6%	5,013
October 2019	3.6%	5.2%	4.5%	4,886
September 2019	3.5%	5.1%	4.3%	4,752
August 2019	3.7%	4.9%	4.2%	4,611
July 2019	3.7%	4.7%	4.1%	4,453