Job Search Pressure Atlas
Job Search Pressure in Louisiana
How much competition there is for each advertised opening, how that compares with the rest of the country, and how it has moved.
December 2025 · ranked 36th of 51 · data retrieved 2026-08-22
Unemployed per job opening
0.89
36th of 51
43rd percentile of 107 months of Louisiana history
- Job openings
- 101,000
- Unemployed people
- 89,565
- Openings rate
- 4.8%
- Hires rate
- 3.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.2%
How difficult is Louisiana relative to other states?
In December 2025 there were 0.89 unemployed people for every job opening in Louisiana, which ranks 36th of 51 states and the District of Columbia — in the middle of the national range. The national figure that month was 1.15. Against Louisiana's own history since 2016, this is the 43rd percentile: less competition than in 57 per cent of the months measured.
Against the nation
0.26 people fewer per opening than the national figure of 1.15.
Against a year earlier
Down 0.05 from 0.94 in December 2024, moving 22 places down the ranking.
History
Louisiana since 2016.
Unemployed people per job opening, every month. The break is the COVID window, excluded as structurally unreliable.
Louisiana ranged from 0.41 in December 2022 to 1.88 in June 2016, and currently reads 0.89. The dashed accent line is the national figure for the same month, 1.15.
The gap in the line is March 2020 to February 2021, excluded because a mass layoff and rehire makes the ratio describe something other than job-search conditions.
Nearby
Louisiana and the states around it.
Louisiana has 0.1 fewer unemployed people per opening than the average of the states it borders.
| Rank | State | Per opening | Hires rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Texas | 1.13 | 3.5% |
| 26 | Arkansas | 1.04 | 3.4% |
| 36 | Louisiana | 0.89 | 3.9% |
| 44 | Mississippi | 0.80 | 3.9% |
Method
Where these figures come from.
89,565 unemployed people divided by 101,000 job openings gives 0.89. Both figures are seasonally adjusted BLS estimates for December 2025 — openings from the state Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, unemployment from Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
The period is December 2025 rather than the current month because state JOLTS runs behind the national series. The national Job Search Friction Index covers June 2026 and conditions have moved since.
A state average conceals a lot. Louisiana is not uniform, and this figure says nothing about whether the openings in it match the people looking for work. The methodology sets out what the measure can and cannot support.
Cite this
Jobsearch.ing, “Job Search Pressure in Louisiana”, December 2025. 0.89 unemployed people per job opening, ranked 36th of 51. Source data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved 2026-08-22. Methodology version 1.0.0. https://jobsearch.ing/job-market/states/louisiana//