Despite a 1.3 percent increase in unemployment, and a 0.2 percent decline in retail sales, St. Tammany Parish’s economy is still doing better than the national economy, according to the first quarter trends report, released by the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation last week.

“In the big picture, St. Tammany is faring very well and is very well-positioned in the current economy,” said STEDF Executive Director Brenda Reine-Bertus.

Though unemployment has risen in the parish to 4.2 percent, the rate is far lower than the state and the nation, where unemployment rates are 5.4 and 8.2 percent respectively. Reine- Bertus put a positive spin on the increase saying that economists believe an unemployment rate close to 5 percent is good because it shows companies that want to locate here there is a large labor market available. Retail sales fell 8.2 percent when compared to the first quarter of 2008, but it was only a 0.2 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2008, which shows that there is a slow movement upward.

However, the parish and municipal governments in the parish are suffering, because they depend on sales taxes to run the government. As a result, the parish government has had to make cuts of 3 percent in its budget, and municipalities like Slidell have had to slash $710,000 in order to make ends meet.

Despite the slowdown in buying, this has not stopped the increase in new businesses and commercial building permits in the parish over the first quarter, according to the STEDF.

Commercial building permits have increased from 85 in the first quarter 2008 to 120 permits in first quarter 2009.

Along with that there were more new businesses starting up in the parish during the first quarter of this year as compared to the same time last year.

It is a 24.9 percent jump with 607 businesses opening in the first quarter of this year.

Despite a still bleak economy outside the state, Reine-Bertus sees St Tammany Parish as an attractive place to do business.

“St. Tammany Parish is a business-friendly environment with a diverse economy that supports a broad spectrum of enterprises,” she said.

She said in the first quarter, new projects have been announced that will bring more than 200 permanent jobs to the parish with an estimated $11 million payroll. Not only is the parish still keeping its head above the troubled financial waters, but also the state is doing quite well in the unemployment sector.

An unemployment rate of 5.6 is not terrific, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington D.C., when one compares our state’s numbers to unemployment rates of 14.1 percent in Michigan, 11.5 percent in California and 12. 4 percent in Oregon, Louisiana is still ahead of the curve with a job market that looks stable.

The complete STDEF Trends Report will be released Friday and can be obtained at the Web site, www.stedf.org.