While most of the country is losing jobs, Louisiana jobs were actually added during February.

During February, the State of Louisiana had a total non-farm employment of 1,942,400 workers, an increase of 800 jobs from January and 6,200 jobs from last year.

A report by the Louisiana Workforce Commission notes the state's unemployment rate increased from 5.1 percent to 5.7 percent, far below the national increase from 7.6 percent to 8.1 percent. However, Baton Rouge alone added 4,100 jobs, while Monroe added 1,600 Louisiana jobs.

“It is very clear that Louisiana employers are still hiring and that our state has opportunities for our citizens,” LWC Executive Director Tim Barfield said in the report.

Louisiana's civilian labor force during February was the highest for that month in history. The number of employed workers in the labor force in February came in at 1,965,731, down from 1,984,060. The number of unemployed workers in the labor force came in at 119,473, up from 106,908 during January.

“The increase in jobs and the increase in people looking for work tell us what our challenge is," Barfield added. "We need to always be focused on connecting job seekers with available opportunities and helping job seekers overcome their barriers to employment."

Industries that saw an employment increase during February include:

• construction from 141,000 to 143,900
• trade, transportation and utilities from 379,100 to 379,700
• information from 26,900 to 27,200
• professional and business services from 203,900 to 205,500
• education and health services from 257,500 to 258,100
• other services from 68,800 to 69,500
• Employment in the following industries decreased during February:
  
• mining and logging from 55,200 to 54,900
• manufacturing from 149,200 to 148,900
• financial activities down from 94,200 to 92,500
• leisure and hospitality down from 200,200 to 199,000
• government down from 365,200 to 363,200