New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Orleans fell 0.2 percentage points in August 2018 to 4.7%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.3 percentage points lower than the Louisiana rate. The unemployment rate in New Orleans peaked in November 2010 at 8.3% and is now 3.6 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 4.0% in January 2018, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.7 percentage points. You can also compare New Orleans unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	August 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.9%	0.0	-0.5
Louisiana	5.0%	+0.1	+0.1
New Orleans	4.7%	-0.2	0.0

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with August 2018 data as September metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

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 November 2010 at 47,759. There are now 19,175 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 24,115 in January 2018, the number of unemployed has now grown by 4,469. New Orleans employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in New Orleans, Louisiana) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	August 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
New Orleans	28,584	-1,099	+241

Number of Unemployed Persons

New Orleans, Louisiana Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Louisiana Unemployment Rate	New Orleans Unemployment Rate	New Orleans Unemployed
September 2018	3.7%	—	—	—
August 2018	3.9%	5.0%	4.7%	28,584
July 2018	3.9%	4.9%	4.9%	29,683
June 2018	4.0%	4.7%	4.8%	29,218
May 2018	3.8%	4.6%	4.5%	26,983
April 2018	3.9%	4.5%	4.3%	26,216
March 2018	4.1%	4.4%	4.2%	25,173
February 2018	4.1%	4.5%	4.0%	24,266
January 2018	4.1%	4.6%	4.0%	24,115
December 2017	4.1%	4.7%	4.2%	25,395
November 2017	4.1%	4.7%	4.3%	25,568
October 2017	4.1%	4.7%	4.3%	25,898