Parish unemployment rate rises

Hiring slows across the board, but some jobs still in high demand

The unemployment rate in St. Charles Parish has risen from 3.7 percent to 5 percent over the last year, but is far from the February national average of 8.1 percent, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

“The story I’ve been telling everyone is that we’re not totally immune to what’s going on around the nation – that we will, and have, felt some impacts,” Corey Faucheux, the parish’s economic development director, said. “But if you compare our unemployment rate to others across the nation, we aren’t feeling the same effects.”

Four states – Michigan, South Carolina, Rhode Island and California – all had unemployment rates over 10 percent in January, while Louisiana was the only state where the jobless rate decreased, falling to 5.1 percent, which is .4 percentage points lower than the previous month.

“There are jobs here, and we are hoping that will encourage more people to move into our area,” Faucheux said. “That doesn’t mean that we will ignore current residents seeking employment.  We will continue to work diligently with our allies to ensure that all our qualified workers find jobs or acquire the essential skills needed in today’s job market.  However, there are some highly-technical positions, like engineers and chemists, that traditionally have been in short supply (locally), forcing companies to recruit outside of the area.”

Faucheux said that because of the real and perceived impacts of Hurricane Katrina, companies are reporting that this recruitment process has been more difficult.  But because of the job losses posted in other parts of the country as a result of the economic downturn, he is hoping that people will head to where the jobs are.

According to a Wadley-Donovan/Workforce Alliance study that was completed late last year, there were plenty of occupations in high demand in the River Parishes. Those jobs included: production operators, engineering technicians, unskilled laborers, machinery maintenance mechanics, engineers, truck drivers (heavy and tractor trailer), electrical and electronic repairers, construction laborers, carpenters and industrial machinery mechanics.

The study said that there were existing critical labor shortages for some occupations like electrical and electronic repairers and industrial machinery mechanics. And that demand exceeds availability for electricians, registered nurses, assemblers/fabricators and welders.

But since 2009 got underway, that seems to have changed – at least for those jobs in the petrochemical and refining industry. While Valero currently has four openings in Norco listed on its company Web site, Monsanto, Shell/Motiva and Dow (who recently laid off nearly 10 percent of its local workforce) currently have no job openings listed in St. Charles Parish.  Long-term however, those sectors will remain a source for local employment opportunities as a large portion of current employees reach retirement age.

Jobs in that sector also pay well, with starting salaries ranging from $35,000 to $60,000, depending on overtime.

Faucheux said that even though hiring has slowed quite a bit all across the board, it’s still important for high school students to acquire skills in the fields that were in demand before the recession began.

“It is critical for our high school students and younger workers to acquire the necessary skills in order to fill these anticipated vacancies,” Faucheux said. “High school students should take full advantage of the curriculum offered at the Satellite Center.”

The Satellite Center, which offers courses in the fields of applied science and technology, education and human development, technology and communication and health science, among others, allows students to earn college credit while in high school.

While job openings in the petrochemical and refining industry may be hard to find, Pam Norfleet, St. Charles Parish Hospital’s director of marketing, said that the hospital is currently searching for nurses.