Local jobs continue to climb back from COVID-19, oil-related decline

Keith Magill   | The Courier

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Houma gained 500 jobs in October but remained down 4,500 compared to a year earlier, the latest state figures show.

The metro area, comprised of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, posted a 7.9% unemployment rate in October, up from 6.8% in September and 4.7% a year ago, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

The area has lost jobs year-to-year for eight straight months.

The number of people working locally, 83,126, is down 1,488 from February, the month before the COVID-19 pandemic began, along with related state restrictions on business and social activity.

At mid-year, the area was down 4,600 jobs for 2020 as the pandemic and related decline in global oil demand hit Houma-Thibodaux’s offshore-oil-based economy hard. The latest figures show the area has regained about 68% of those jobs. 

Louisiana, meanwhile, has regained nearly 155,000 jobs since the pandemic’s peak this past spring, the figures show.

“Louisiana has faced unprecedented hardships resulting from the pandemic and three recent hurricanes,” Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Dejoie said. “But the data shows we have recovered approximately 65% of the jobs initially lost in April.” 

After stabilizing in 2018-19, the local metro area, comprised of Terrebonne and Lafourche, has lost 4,600 jobs so far this year as weak oil prices drove the Gulf of Mexico rig count down to 12.

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Houma-Thibodaux was just beginning to recover from an oil bust that started in 2014, stripping more than 16,000 jobs from the local economy, when the pandemic hit, Louisiana Economist Loren Scott said in a September report. State figures estimate the local job losses at closer to 25,000.

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To be counted as unemployed, a person has to be jobless and actively looking for work. People not searching for work, perhaps waiting to return to their former jobs soon, would not be counted as unemployed in the statistics.

Here are other local economic trends in the latest report. Figures are not adjusted for seasonal variations:

– Local jobs directly involved in oil and gas exploration and production remained steady at 5,200 from September to October. But the total is down 1,300, or 20%, compared to October 2019. Year-to-year job totals in the category have been down 15 of the past 18 months.

– Oilfield-service jobs also remained steady at 4,500 in October. But the total, 4,500, is down 1,200 compared to a year ago. More than one of every five oilfield-service jobs in the area has vanished in the past year.

– Local shipbuilding and maritime jobs, now totaling 3,900, declined by 200 for the month and 700, or 15%, compared to a year ago.

– Leisure and hospitality, which include restaurants, bars and hotels, gained 200 jobs over the month, bringing the total to 7,200. But the category remains down 1,000 jobs, a 12% loss, compared to October 2019.

— The area’s civilian labor force — defined as those employed or actively looking for work — totaled 90,224 in October. That’s up 373 people for the month and 838 for the year.

– Houma-Thibodaux’s October jobless rate is 1.4 percentage points lower than the state’s 9.3% and 1.6 percentage points higher than the nation’s 6.6%.

– In Terrebonne, 43,565 people were employed in October while 4,122 residents were jobless but looking for work. In Lafourche, 39,561 held jobs while 2,976 were unemployed.

– Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.