Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has declined for the eighth straight month to 4.6 percent in December, the lowest in nearly a decade. Executive Director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission Ava Dejoie says Houma’s job numbers were unchanged, but that translates to good news:
Cut 15 (12) “of it”
Baton Rouge saw 12 straight over the year increases, while Lake Charles has 78.

The American Lung Association has released their “State of Tobacco Control” and shows Louisiana lags behind the nation in reducing tobacco use. The report card gives the state “F”s in four out of five key categories, including Tabacco 21 which raises the age to buy smokes from 18 to 21..:
Cut 5 (08) “some lives”
22.8 percent of Louisiana residents are current smokers, the 6th highest in the country.

Governor John Bel Edwards, Louisiana’s Congressional delegation, state legislators, and lobbyists, are in DC this week for the annual Washington Mardi Gras. LAPolitics publisher Jeremy Alford says the epicenter of the mini Carnival is ten minutes down the road from the White House…:
Cut 11 (11) “Mardi Gras”
Alford says much of the chit chat is centering around which Republicans will be challenging John Bel Edwards for governor.

Louisiana’s fall shrimp season is closing in remaining state inside waters and a portion of state outside waters effective Friday at official sunset. Those waters include Chef Menteur and Rigolets Passes, Lake Borgne, Mississippi Sound, Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and a section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Orleans Parish.