New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Orleans fell 0.1 percentage points in December 2018 to 4.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than the Louisiana rate. The unemployment rate in New Orleans peaked in November 2010 at 8.3% and is now 3.8 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 4.0% in January 2018, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.5 percentage points. You can also compare New Orleans unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	December 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.9%	+0.2	-0.2
Louisiana	4.9%	0.0	+0.3
New Orleans	4.5%	-0.1	+0.3

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with December 2018 data as January 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 20,562 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 3,082. New Orleans employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in New Orleans, Louisiana) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	December 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
New Orleans	27,197	-254	+1,802

Number of Unemployed Persons

New Orleans, Louisiana Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Louisiana Unemployment Rate	New Orleans Unemployment Rate	New Orleans Unemployed
February 2019	3.8%	—	—	—
January 2019	4.0%	4.9%	—	—
December 2018	3.9%	4.9%	4.5%	27,197
November 2018	3.7%	4.9%	4.6%	27,451
October 2018	3.8%	4.9%	4.6%	27,349
September 2018	3.7%	4.9%	4.6%	27,390
August 2018	3.8%	4.9%	4.7%	28,569
July 2018	3.9%	5.0%	4.9%	29,683
June 2018	4.0%	5.0%	4.8%	29,218
May 2018	3.8%	5.0%	4.5%	26,983
April 2018	3.9%	4.9%	4.3%	26,216
March 2018	4.0%	4.8%	4.2%	25,173