New Orleans jobless rate is nation's lowest, Labor Department reports

The Times-Picayune ^ | April 07, 2010, 8:12PM | AP

[Mila]

New Orleans has the lowest jobless rate in the country, according to an employment report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The unemployment rate in the city fell to 6.5 percent in February, from 7.9 percent in January and 6.8 percent in December. That gave it the lowest rate in the country among metropolitan areas with 1 million or more people, the department said.

The report found that unemployment rates fell or remained unchanged in two-thirds of the 372 largest U.S. metro areas in February. In fact, the eight U.S. metro areas showing the greatest improvement in unemployment in February were all in Louisiana: New Orleans, Lake Charles, Alexandria, Lafayette and several other metro areas all saw joblessness drop sharply.

[neodad]

Can we stop feeling sorry for them now?

[bigbob]

so we can take back the Louisiana Purchase then?

[GeronL]

All the deadbeats are in Texas getting their rent paid by the taxpayers.

[American Quilter]

Did it drop because a bunch of them went on welfare?

[CholeraJoe]

No evacuee will move back without a job. Workin’ fo’ a livin’ is hard.

[SnakeDoctor]

That’s what happens when all the broke/ unemployed/ unemployable people flee ... the only ones that come back are people with a reason to come back.

SnakeDoc

[deport]

Did the unemployment benefits end in LA and thus they dropped into limbo as far as being counted? Strange all the improvement statewide.

[a fool in paradise]

Does this include their police force that was paying out checks to officers who didn’t even exist?

[major-pelham]

This goes along with stats released last week that they are a net plus on population now too, over 2005. But I’m sure we all suspect they’ll live off the armageddon story for at least 20 more years.

[Recon Dad]

They're hoping for a Hurricane in Detroit this summer.

[bgill]

The unemployment numbers are generated from those who register and are actively looking for work. No one in NO is actively looking for work, hence their low numbers.

[handmade]

all the deadbeats are in Texas....

That was my first thought. The hurricane flushed out a whole lot of flotsam so of course the unemployment rate is not bad.

[GeronL]

That is what I believe

[OrangeHoof]

Bush’s fault?

[denydenydeny]

The report found that unemployment rates fell or remained unchanged in two-thirds of the 372 largest U.S. metro areas in February. In fact, the eight U.S. metro areas showing the greatest improvement in unemployment in February were all in Louisiana: New Orleans, Lake Charles, Alexandria, Lafayette and several other metro areas all saw joblessness drop sharply.

Not a mystery to me. Employers would prefer to invest in the labor markets that are the most free, like Texas or Bobby Jindal's Louisiana.

[Clemenza]

Yeah, but Jeff Daniels keeps telling me to open my business in Michigan! (LOL).

[TigerBait]

This obviously doesn’t factor in the ‘given up finding a job’ crowd which is about 25% of the population of New Orleans who also don’t listen to evacuation orders.

[MEGoody]

You can’t file for unemployment when you have never worked.

[BunnySlippers]

Serious question [and no offense meant], are welfare recipients counted as “jobless”?

Anywhere?