New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana Unemployment
The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Orleans rose 0.1 percentage points in January 2021 to 8.7%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 1.1 percentage points higher than the Louisiana rate. The unemployment rate in New Orleans peaked in April 2020 at 20.0% and is now 11.3 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 8.6% in December 2020, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.1 percentage points. You can also compare New Orleans unemployment with unemployment in other cities.
| Unemployment Rate | January 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 6.3% | -0.4 | +2.8 |
| Louisiana | 7.6% | -0.3 | +2.5 |
| New Orleans | 8.7% | +0.1 | +3.9 |
Unemployment Rate: New Orleans, Louisiana, National
Note: Recessions shown in gray.
New Orleans, Louisiana Unemployed
The number of people unemployed in New Orleans peaked in April 2020 at 111,208. There are now 60,069 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 51,108 in December 2020, the number of unemployed has now grown by 31. New Orleans employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in New Orleans, Louisiana) is also available.
| Unemployed Persons | January 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | 51,139 | +31 | +22,296 |
Number of Unemployed Persons
New Orleans, Louisiana Unemployment History
| Date | National Unemployment Rate |
Louisiana Unemployment Rate |
New Orleans Unemployment Rate |
New Orleans Unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 |
6.0% | — | — | — |
| February 2021 |
6.2% | 7.6% | — | — |
| January 2021 |
6.3% | 7.6% | 8.7% | 51,139 |
| December 2020 |
6.7% | 7.9% | 8.6% | 51,108 |
| November 2020 |
6.7% | 7.9% | 10.3% | 60,848 |
| October 2020 |
6.9% | 7.9% | 11.3% | 67,238 |
| September 2020 |
7.8% | 8.0% | 9.2% | 53,989 |
| August 2020 |
8.4% | 8.2% | 9.2% | 53,828 |
| July 2020 |
10.2% | 9.1% | 11.4% | 64,643 |
| June 2020 |
11.1% | 9.4% | 12.1% | 68,546 |
| May 2020 |
13.3% | 13.1% | 17.9% | 103,056 |
| April 2020 |
14.8% | 13.1% | 20.0% | 111,208 |
1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩
Department of Numbers
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