Alexandria, LA (11/22/2023) – The Louisiana State University of Alexandria College of Business releases its November 2023 issue of the Central Louisiana Economic Dashboard.
“In recent months, the tight labor market in Alexandria has eased and consumer spending has weakened in some areas,” said Randall Dupont, Dean of the LSUA College of Business. Unemployment in central Louisiana stood at 3.8% in September, according to the latest available data. Alexandria’s unemployment rate rose from 3.1% in August to 3.4% in September, while the rate in Natchitoches dropped from 4.2% to 3.9% over the same period.
Dupont continued, “Alexandria’s labor market continues to be the tightest in the state, a ranking it has held for over three years. Its unemployment rate of 3.4% was the third lowest in the state in September, behind Baton Rouge and Lake Charles.”
Year-to-date through October 2023, consumer spending in central Louisiana was ahead of last year in all jurisdictions, with Rapides and Grant seeing YTD increases of 2% and 10%, respectively. High interest rates appear to be impacting vehicle sales. Vehicles were down in five of the six parishes in September, according to October tax collections.
Another sign of a slowing economy is a plateauing of online sales in recent months. Online consumer spending grew by 2.9% in 2023 over the first 10 months of last year. However, online sales have remained the same since June. This is the first extended period of no growth in online sales since remote sellers’ data have been collected and may be evidence of consumer belt-tightening. In an unusual turn, brick-and-mortar sales in CenLA grew at 4.3%, a faster pace than online sales.
New business applications in Louisiana were up nearly a half percent through October, while Rapides saw a 9% decline over the same period. Rapides had 365 new businesses in the first 10 months, compared to 399 last year.
The Central Louisiana Economic Dashboard is a service of the LSUA College of Business to help business and community leaders monitor the economic pulse of central Louisiana. To view the November 2023 CENLA Economic Dashboard, click here.
Written by Randall Dupont, Ph.D. | LSUA Colle
Photo credit – LSUA Strategic Communications
