The Lake Charles metro area lost 1,000 local jobs from November to December, 600 of which were construction-related, according to Louisiana Workforce Commission’s December report.
An official with the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance attributed the loss of construction jobs to a normal slowdown in projects during the holidays.
“In the holiday season in particular, your supply lines have just about shut down,” said R.B. Smith, Alliance vice president of workforce development. “A lot of your construction workers, just out of habit, will lay off in the month of December.”
Smith said this gives workers an opportunity to spend the holidays with their families before returning to another project. He expects construction jobs to increase as projects start up again in the first few months of 2017.
Even so, the December losses didn’t diminish the area’s over-the-year progress. For the 12 months ending in December, Lake Charles gained jobs at a higher rate than any other Louisiana city besides Baton Rouge, the report says.
Lake Charles added 1,700 jobs in 2016, 1,300 of which were in construction. December was the area’s 66th consecutive month with an over-the-year increase.
Louisiana, on the other hand, gained 1,900 over the month but lost 4,600 over the year, in its 17th consecutive month with an over-the-year loss.
Louisiana’s unemployment rate dropped from 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent, while the national rate went up from 4.6 to 4.7 percent.
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