BATON ROUGE – On the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 effect on the state’s workforce, Louisiana’s April 2021 not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell by 6.1 percentage points to 6.6% from the April 2020 rate of 12.7%.

Since April 2020, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals increased by 149,937 from 1,774,424 to 1,924,631 in April 2021. When compared to March 2021, the number of not seasonally adjusted employed individuals increased by 979.

Since April 2020, the number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals decreased by 123,215 from 259,225 to 136,010 in April 2021. When compared to March 2021, the number of not seasonally adjusted unemployed individuals increased by 38 individuals.

Not seasonally adjusted April 2021 unemployment rates for Louisiana’s nine MSAs are as follows:

• Alexandria: 4.4 percent, down from 4.9 percent in March and down from 8.6 percent in April 2020.
• Baton Rouge: 5.8 percent, unchanged from 5.8 percent in March, but down from 11.7 percent in April 2020.
• Hammond: 7.2 percent, down from 7.5 percent in March and down from 14.9 percent in April 2020.
• Houma: 5.6 percent, down from 6.0 percent in March and down from 10.9 percent in April 2020.
• Lafayette: 5.9 percent, down from 6.4 percent in March and down from 11.3 percent in April 2020.
• Lake Charles: 7.0 percent, down from 7.4 percent in March and down from 12.4 percent in April 2020.
• Monroe: 5.8 percent, down from 6.2 percent in March and down from 10.3 percent in April 2020.
• New Orleans: 8.1 percent, up from 7.5 percent in March, but down from 16.6 percent in April 2020.
• Shreveport: 6.3 percent, down from 6.5 percent in March and down from 11.5 percent in April 2020.

Since April 2020, not seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased by 123,000 jobs from 1,715,700 to 1,838,700 in April 2021. When compared to March 2021, not seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased by 6,800 jobs.

Since April 2020, not seasonally adjusted private sector employment increased by 127,400 jobs from 1,395,000 to 1,522,400 in April 2021. When compared to March 2021, not seasonally adjusted private sector employment increased by 6,200 jobs.

Industries that showed the largest gains for not seasonally adjusted jobs for April 2021:

• Leisure and Hospitality gained 61,600 jobs from April 2020.
• Trade, Transportation, and Utilities gained 25,900 from April 2020.
• Education and Health Services gained 19,200 jobs from April 2020.
• Professional and Business Services gained 12,300 jobs from April 2020.

This article originally appeared on Leesville Daily Leader: Not Seasonally Adjusted data shows strong COVID-19 recovery