In the News

BATON ROUGE, La. (LOCAL 33) (FOX 44) - United States unemployment rates dropped to 3.8 percent in May, the lowest it's been since 1969.

"For women in the audience, we have the lowest unemployment rate in 17 years. We have the lowest unemployment rate for Hispanic Americans ever. We have the lowest unemployment for African Americans ever. Things are changing," Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) said.

Governor John Bel Edwards also said Louisiana's unemployment is following that downward trend. However, Graves said the state still has room to improve.

"We can have a growing economy. We can have growing job opportunities, but if we cannot connect the dots between people that are unemployed and open jobs, we're failing," Graves said.

He said, for many years, people were being pushed towards four-year degrees. He said that is not a bad thing, except that meant there were not enough skilled workers to fill the jobs that were open in the state.

He said the state has gotten better about informing people about the variety of jobs that are available, but there is still room to grow on that front.

A recent study by the financial website, WalletHub, ranks Louisiana is dead last on the "2018's Best & Worst State Economies" list.