by Eric Peterson, director of policy The New Year’s celebrations brought with it a hope that the turning of the calendar would leave the bad news of 2020 behind us. Unfortunately, some of the first economic reports of the year signal we still have a long way to go before the damage caused last year…
by Sarah Harbison, general counsel & director, Pelican Center for Justice Ursula Newell-Davis lives in New Orleans and cares deeply about the well-being of her community. Through her work as a social worker and as a mother to her own special needs son, Ursula has seen first-hand that children with disabilities and their families need…
by Eric Peterson, Director of Policy During the holiday season, Louisianans have more on their mind than the latest state economic reports. Yet as we enter the New Year, it’s important to understand where our state’s economy stands. Two reports, one from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the other from the Bureau of…
by Eric Peterson, Director of Policy As 2020 winds down, I can’t help but reflect on the difficulties we’ve all experienced, both on the health and economic fronts, throughout this year. Fortunately, as a vaccine appears within reach, so too is a return to a strong economy. The latest jobs release from the Bureau of…
Two weeks ago, it appeared as though the Louisiana economy was once again headed for darker times. As other states were reinstituting stricter lockdown penalties and Mayor LaToya Cantrell was canceling Mardi Gras, the number of new Louisiana unemployment claims skyrocketed to over 40,000. It seemed the lack of travel to Louisiana might have resulted in…
Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Louisiana is returning to Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 economic restrictions. In addition to ordering many bars across the state to close and sending most businesses back to 50 percent occupancy through the end of the year, Gov. Edwards also limited gatherings to 75 indoors and 150 outdoors. Additionally,…
Despite mostly good news on both the Louisiana health and economic fronts over the last few months, November has brought spikes in both unemployment and COVID-19 cases. While unemployment claims had been trending downwards for some time, even getting below 10,000 for a few weeks, the week ending November 14 saw claims jump to over…
The Pelican team has been traveling the state since March, collecting stories of those who have been harmed by the state’s COVID-19 shutdown. Every Louisianan knows at least one person who has lost their livelihood due to the shutdown, and these stories deserve to be told and heard by everyone in our state. We recently traveled to…
While most Americans were following the latest twists and turns in the election last week, some excellent economic news flew under the radar. On the state front, the number of Louisianans filing for unemployment continued its swift decline, with just over 7,700 individuals filing the week ending October 31. This is still about four times…
When facing difficult financial circumstances, Louisiana families take the steps they need to rein in their spending and plan responsibly for future expenses. This is not the case when it comes to how our state currently approaches budgeting. Fortunately, Louisianans Constitutional Amendment 4, is on the Nov. 3 ballot, is offering an opportunity for Louisianans…