516 St. Mary people file jobless claims; U.S. unemployment rate shoots to 14.7%

Another 516 St. Mary Parish people filed initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending May 2, the smallest number since late March, the Louisiana Workforce Commission said Thursday.
Then, on Friday morning, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. unemployment rate for April was 14.7%, the highest level since the Great Depression.
The nation lost 20 million jobs in April as COVID-19 and restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the disease took hold, the bureau said.
The St. Mary jobless claim total was down from 676 the week before. Unemployment claims peaked the week of April 4, when 1,016 filed for benefits.
Since the week ending March 21, 5,073 St. Mary people have filed for unemployment. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures indicated that total nonfarm employment in St. Mary has hovered between 21,000 and 22,000 since plunging oil prices led to economic disruptions beginning in fall 2014 but before COVID-19.
In St. Martin, 508 people filed unemployment claims last week for a total of 5,154 since the week of March 21.
In Assumption, 225 filed last week, where 2,258 have filed claims since the week of March 21.
Statewide, 52,137 people filed initial claims last week for a total of 563,425 since the pandemic reached Louisiana.
The sector hit hardest by COVID-19 is food service and accommodations, where 121,206 have filed for jobless benefits since the week of March 21.
Another 7,664 claims have come from the mining sector, which includes many oil and gas jobs. More than 66,000 people have filed from the retail trade sector.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday morning that the jump in the national unemployment rate is the biggest since it began keeping track in 1948.
“The changes in these measures reflect the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it,” the bureau said in a news release. “Employment fell sharply in all major industry sectors, with particularly heavy job losses in leisure and hospitality.”
The labor force participation rate decreased by 2.5 percentage points over the month to 60.2%, the lowest rate since January 1973, when it was 60.0%. Total employment, as measured by the household survey, fell by 22.4 million to 133.4 million.
The number of persons who usually work full time declined by 15.0 million over the month, and the number who usually work part time declined by 7.4 million. Part-time workers accounted for one-third of the over-the-month employment