More than 100,000 Louisiana workers left jobs in November, among the highest in U.S.

Around 101,000 Louisiana workers left their jobs – either voluntarily or involuntarily – in November 2022, as Louisiana has one of the highest rates of job separations, quittings, firings and job openings in the nation.

Data released from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that Louisiana is near the top of all states in the rate workers are leaving their jobs and the rate of new job openings. The only area where Louisiana isn’t among the states leading the nation is in new hires, which has lagged behind.

Louisiana continues to see workers quit in droves

Throughout 2022, Louisiana has seen a large number of workers quit their jobs. Around 72,000 quit their jobs in November, which was the most in a single month the state had seen since 112,000 in September 2005. 

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Through November, 713,000 Louisiana workers quit their jobs in 2022, which is already more the state has recorded in any full-year since at least 2012. Louisiana hasn’t been alone in facing a rash of workers choosing to leave their jobs, but it has had one of the fastest-growing totals in all the country.

In November alone, Louisiana was near the middle of the pack for overall quitting, ranking 22nd of all states. But in terms of quit rate – the percentage of the state’s employed workers that quit in a given time period – the state was tied for second in November with 3.7%. The state ranked 6th in October and 21st in November 2021.

The state has also seen the number of quitting workers increase more rapidly than most other states. Louisiana ranked 5th for the raw increase in quitting workers since Nov. 2021 with 7,000 and 4th for percentage increase with 10.8%.

Louisiana seeing firings and layoffs on the rise

For much of 2021 and 2022, Louisiana has seen relatively few workers separate from their workplaces involuntarily through firings or layoffs. But in the back part of 2022, the state has seen these numbers start to rise.

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In November, 26,000 workers were fired or laid off across the state, up from 21,000 in October. November’s total was the highest since May 2022.

Through November, the state had 229,000 total firings or layoffs, which is an increase of about 9,000 or 4.1% from the year-to-date 2021 total. The year 2021 had the second-lowest number of firings or layoffs since at least 2012.

The state ranked 18th in total firings during November after ranking 24th in October and 25th in November 2021. The state’s firing rate of 1.3% in November was tied for the seventh-highest of all states.

Compared to November 2021, the state has seen an increase of 6,000 firings, ranking ninth of all states. By percentage, the state ranked 15th with 30% as most states have seen their involuntary separations increase.

Since October, Louisiana is tied for having the fourth-highest increase in overall firings with 5,000 and fourth for percentage increase with 23.8%.

With both quitting and firings on the rise, Louisiana is near the top for total separations

With the state experiencing high turnover from both quitting and firings, it’s no shock the state ranks near the top of all states for total separations. Through November, Louisiana has had around 1 million workers leave their jobs voluntarily or involuntarily.

Louisiana’s separation rate of 5.2% was tied for fourth-highest of all states. The state was also fourth in separation increase compared to November 2021 with 8,000 more and ranked 6th in percentage increase with 11%.

Between October and November, Louisiana had 8,000 more separations, tied for the eighth-most of all states. The percentage increase of 18.6% ranked 12th.

Job openings reach record high levels in Louisiana

Louisiana set a new record for the number of job openings recorded in a single month with 180,000 in November, beating the previous record of 175,000 set in October.

Louisiana has had around 1.7 million job openings through November, which is already the most of any full year the state has recorded since at least 2012. 

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While the state ranks near the middle for total openings, its opening rate was the highest in the nation in November. The opening rate, which is the number of new openings divided by the total number of employed people and openings, was around 8.5% for the month. In October, Louisiana ranked second with 8.3%.

The state has also seen its new openings increase faster than all other states, ranking first in new openings compared to November 2021 with 43,000 and first in percent growth since November 2021 with 31.4%.

Louisiana was also first in the change in its opening rate since November 2021, increasing by 1.7 percentage-points. For only the second time since 2000, Louisiana had more than two job openings per unemployed person in November.

Job openings soar, but hirings lag behind 

Louisiana saw around 93,000 workers be hired at new workplaces in November, which was down by about 15,000 from October. Through November, the state has around 1.1 million hirings, which is up by 6.3% from the year-to-date total in 2021, which was a record.

Among all states, Louisiana ranked 26th for new hires in November after ranking 22nd in October and 26th in November 2021. Louisiana was 10th for hire rate in November with 6.2%.

Louisiana saw around 10,000 fewer hires than it did in November 2021, ranking 35th for raw growth among all states. Hires fell by 9.7%, ranking 32nd for percentage increase.

Between October and November, hirings fell by 15,000, ranking 44th in the U.S. By percentage, hires fell by 13.9%, ranking 49th.