Few states had more job turnover than Louisiana in 2022

Louisiana had a record-breaking amount of job turnover throughout 2022, setting new highs in job openings, hires, and workers quitting, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Like other states, Louisiana’s job market went through a period of upheaval after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Louisiana has had some of the most dramatic shifts in the last year, the data shows. As a result, Louisiana has continued to have a surplus of job openings with more than two openings per unemployed person.

During 2022, Louisiana had a total of 1.89 million job openings – the most the state has recorded in the last decade. The state had 402,000 more openings in 2022 than it did in 2021, an increase of nearly 27%.

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In December 2022 alone, the state had 186,000 openings, the most Louisiana has recorded in any single month during the last decade. Of all states, Louisiana had the largest increase in job openings from December 2021 to December 2022 with 35,000 and had the second-largest percent increase with 23.2%.

Louisiana had the second-highest job opening rate in December 2022 – which is the number of job openings divided by the total number of openings and employed workers – with 8.7%.

Louisiana also saw the number of hires increase in 2022, though it wasn’t as dramatic as the rise in openings. Around 1.16 million workers were hired across Louisiana during the year, which was the most on record and an increase of 69,000 or 6.4% from 2021. 

In December 2022, 102,000 workers were hired, which was an increase of 9,000 or 9.7% from December 2021. Louisiana ranked seventh for both raw and percent increase from December 2021 to December 2022.

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Louisiana was tied for the third-highest hiring rate (the percentage of employed workers that were hired that month) with 5.3%.

As might be expected with the high number of job openings, Louisiana saw one of its highest job separation totals in the last decade. Around 1.09 million Louisiana workers left their jobs either voluntarily or involuntarily in 2022, which was the second-highest total since 2012 behind only 1.13 million in 2020.

The number of separations in 2022 was up 84,000 or 8.3% from 2021. In December, 97,000 workers were separated from their jobs, an increase of 11,000 or 12.8% from December 2021. Louisiana had the fifth-largest raw increase of all states and the ninth-largest percent increase.

Louisiana’s separation rate – the percentage of employed workers who left their jobs in some way during the month – was 5% in December 2022, tying for the fifth-highest among all states.

The total number of separations includes two different groups of people who left their jobs: those who quit voluntarily and those that were laid off or fired. In 2022, the number of quitting workers hit record-high numbers, while the number of firings and layoffs was near a record low.

Last year, around 778,000 workers quit their jobs, which was an increase of 75,000 or 10.7% from 2021. In December, around 67,000 workers quit, which was an increase of around 5,000 or 8.1% from December 2021. Louisiana had the sixth-largest increase in quitting workers from December 2021 and the 10th-largest percent increase.

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Louisiana’s quit rate was 3.4% in December 2022, which was tied for seventh among all states.

At the same time, around 251,000 workers were fired or laid off in 2022, the second-lowest mark since 2012. The only year when fewer people were involuntarily separated from their jobs in Louisiana was 2021.

Layoffs and firings rose by around 12,000 or 5% from 2021. In December, around 23,000 workers were laid off or fired, an increase of 4,000 or 21.1% from December 2021. Louisiana ranked 17th for the increase since December 2021 and 25th in percent-increase.

Louisiana’s firing and layoff rate was 1.2 in December 2022, which was tied for the 10th-highest of all states.