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Gulf Coast unemployment trends, 2000 to 2010: hurricanes, recessions, oil spills
John A. Coughlan
John A. Coughlan is an economist in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Email: coughlan.john@bls.gov
Four major events had the potential to adversely influence the unemployment rate of the coastline counties along the Gulf of Mexico from 2000 to 2010: the 2001 recession, the 2005 hurricane season, the 2007–2009 recession, and a major oil spill caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in April 2010. This report examines changes in the unemployment rates in the Gulf coastline counties and compares them with their statewide unemployment rate changes and with changes in the U.S. unemployment rate. The primary data used for the analysis are unemployment rate data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, the Bureau).1 Unemployment rate data also were obtained from the state government of Louisiana for five parishes from September 2005 to June 2006; these data are not available from the Bureau.2
1See "Local Area Unemployment Statistics" (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, updated monthly and annually), http://www.bls.gov/lau.
2See "What's Hot in Labor Market Information" (Louisiana Workforce Commission, updated monthly), http://voshost.com/analyzer/default.asp.
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
Hurricane Katrina evacuees: who they are, where they are, and how they are faring.—Mar. 2008.
Effect of Hurricane Katrina on employment and unemployment, The.—Aug. 2006.
Hurricane damage to the ocean economy in the U.S. gulf region in 2005.—Aug. 2006.
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