Home Care In Monroe, LA

It lost 200 jobs in September 2026. Those figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ state and local employment report, which tracks monthly job changes. Job numbers can swing month to month as local economies expand or contract, but over the past five years the Monroe, LA Metro Area has averaged about 70 new jobs per month. These figures are often revised in later months as more complete data rolls in.

-200

month to month change in number of jobs (September 2026)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Monroe, LA area job loss of 200 in September 2026 swung from a gain of 100 jobs in August 2026.

During the latest five-year period (October 2021 to September 2026), the Monroe, LA area gained jobs in 28 out of 60 months. September 2026 had the sixth-lowest job growth during this period. The highest gains during this period occurred in October 2021 (1,000) while job growth was weakest in January 2022 (-500).

Monthly change in nonfarm employment in the Monroe, LA area

How has the Monroe, LA area's job growth changed over time?

In 2025, the Monroe, LA area has gained an average of 83 jobs every month. That's the same as the 2024 average monthly increase of 83, and the highest since 2021. The 2025 average ranks as fifth-highest in job growth since 2007.

When excluding the two pandemic-affected years of 2020 and 2021, job growth ranged from a gain of 208 every month in 2012 to a loss of 133 every month in 2009.

Average monthly change in the number of jobs in the Monroe, LA area, seasonally adjusted

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Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.

Move sparks dispute between mayor and three council members over fire chief appointment

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Monroe City Council member Juanita Woods made a motion less than three minutes into Tuesday’s meeting to pass over the agenda and adjourn without discussing any items.

“I would like to make a motion that we pass over this agenda for the evening,” Woods said.

Council member Rodney McFarland and Council Chairman Verbon Muhammad voted with Woods. Councilwoman Gretchen Ezernack voted against the motion. Councilman Doug Harvey was not at the meeting.

“Motion carried, this meeting is adjourned,” the meeting record states.

Council reaction

Ezernack was the only council member who voted against ending the meeting early. She asked Woods why she wanted to end the meeting early but did not receive a response.

“I feel like it was being totally irresponsible to the citizens of Monroe, to the people there in the audience at the meeting and those that had issues that needed to be resolved that were on the agenda,” Ezernack said.

Ezernack said that in her 16 years on the council, she has never seen a meeting end this way, and she does not know why members of the council voted to close it.

Mayor Friday Ellis addressed the meeting’s ending.

“It didn’t have to go down that way, but that’s a decision they made. The charter gives them that authority, but you’re not immune from the consequences of your decisions,” Ellis said.

Council members respond

On Wednesday, McFarland and Woods went live on Facebook, saying one reason for the meeting’s abrupt ending is that Ellis refuses to work with certain members of the council.

“He tried to paint a picture last night after he got all mad and stormed out. As if we’re hurting the city, you hurting the city, Friday Ellis, because you have made it up in your doggone mind that you’re not gonna work with the black council persons,” McFarland said.

Woods, McFarland and Muhammad are the three African American members on the Monroe City Council, representing the 3rd, 4th and 5th districts, respectively. Ellis said those districts have seen the most projects and funding during his tenure as mayor.

“Up to 90% of the city’s capital infrastructure funds have all benefited districts 3, 4, and five. The same 3 council members who voted this down. Every year we have appropriation asks in DC. Every one of those appropriation asks, districts 3, 4, and five. Our capital outlay projects in Baton Rouge that benefit this city all benefit districts 3, 4, and five. So again, they have accusations. We have receipts, it’s all public knowledge,” Ellis said.

No one addressed the council from the podium during Tuesday’s meeting before the agenda was dismissed.

“The items that was on the agenda. Yes, they were. They were passed over. In other words, two weeks later we’ll we’ll pick it back up. But we want to open communication with the mayor,” McFarland said.

Impact on residents, business owners

Ellis said the decision to skip the agenda mostly affected residents and business owners in attendance, some of whom came to hear about city issues while others sought to open a nonprofit or restaurant.

“What you hurt last night were business owners, nonprofits, first responders, contractors and people interested in doing the business of the city and the people who actually took the time to participate in a public meeting,” Ellis said.

Aaron, the owner of Gonzalez Mexican Restaurant, attended Tuesday’s meeting to seek a new alcohol-selling license for his Monroe location. He said he cannot open the location until he has the license.

“He’s losing money and he has to be closed for a while because he can’t get a liquor license, so it affects him a lot,” the Gonzalez owner said.

Fire chief dispute

Muhammad said in a statement that the meeting’s ending was not solely about the fire chief position.

“This is not about the fire chief, it’s bigger than that. It’s about inclusion, equity, and fairness in projects, contracts and the distribution of resources in this city,” Muhammad said.

The meeting came one week after Gov. Jeff Landry re-appointed Timothy Williams as Monroe fire chief, a decision McFarland, Woods and Muhammad have said they are challenging in court. Ellis said he believes that issue sparked the meeting’s ending.

“It’s already been told it’s about the fire chief and it’s about ultimately stating that you’re going to respect our authority as counsel. Well, right now that’s there are legal avenues to challenge that. They’re already being pursued. So again, you’ve chosen to pursue this through the courts. Let it go through the courts. And if the courts deem it unconstitutional, then they deem it unconstitutional or vice versa,” Ellis said.

The Monroe fire chief position has been vacant for almost two years. Woods said that is because Ellis will not collaborate with the city council on the decision.

“But Mr. Ellis is the one that’s been holding up this process. It has not been the council. And if two years has passed and you hadn’t had a fire chief, that’s Ellis’s fault. That’s not the council’s fault because all he had to do was have the conversation,” Woods said.

Emails dated May 30 from Timothy Williams to all members of the Monroe City Council show Williams introducing himself and asking to set up a meeting with each member to discuss his qualifications to be Monroe fire chief. The city council never responded to Williams’ inquiry.

Woods and Muhammad were asked who they would want to see as fire chief if not Williams but did not answer. Muhammad said last year he would like to see someone from within Monroe Fire become chief, but he was one of the council members who voted against Monroe Fire Capt. Daniel Overturf in 2024.

The full 3-minute, 27-second meeting can be viewed at KNOE.com or on the station’s YouTube page.

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Late Wednesday night, Monroe City Council Vice Chair Juanita Woods sent KNOE a statement about Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

This is about Monroe, and it is about the people of Monroe this administration keeps forgetting. The mayor wants you to believe this is about one fire chief. No one is trying to teach anyone a lesson. This is about respect: how you communicate, whether you show up, and whether you keep your word after the vote has been cast. You cannot spend two years cashing this Council’s votes and then act as if we do not exist.

We walked out because our mothers and fathers walked out. When there was no seat at the table, they stood up and made the room see them. Last night was the beginning.

Here is the record. Two budgets, more than 140 million dollars. A capital plan of 465 million dollars. A 25-year infrastructure tax. The Candy Company agreement. The 27-million-dollar AT&T fiber award, one of the largest in the state. And 110 million dollars in bond authority. Not one project, not one contract, not one dollar moves in this city unless the Council approves it. We approve the project. We give him the authority to carry it out. What we do not expect is to approve a project and then never hear from him again. That is not his record. That is our record.

The mayor says the money went to our districts. Look at what is in them: pump stations, detention ponds, airport drainage, a highway connector, a marina. Monroe needs all of it. But take the pipes and ponds off the page and nothing is left that a child can see from the front porch. When I bring forward something they can see, I am told it does not make sense. Bishop McFarland is told his projects are no longer a priority. Chairman Muhammad receives the same call. We live in these districts. We hear our neighbors every day. This is about whether the Council will do what the mayor says. That is not going to happen.

I will not call the mayor a liar. But leadership is telling the truth and keeping your word. Your word has to be good on Tuesday, September 22. It has to be good on October 10. It has to be good on Christmas Day, and it has to be the same this time next year. Monroe is making progress. But when the mayor gives his word and we make an agreement, the agreement has to hold. A handshake in September that nobody remembers in November is not an agreement. Too often what is said in the room and what is heard in the room come out different, and he is always the common denominator. And that is the heart of it. To do this work, you have to have trust. You cannot govern a city with someone you do not trust, and you cannot govern it with people

around him who do not trust each other. Monroe does not have a Council problem. Monroe has a leadership problem. You cannot run a city press release by press release.

Some people may have been inconvenienced last night, and we are addressing that. But we cannot keep going along while resources and priorities are directed in a way that leaves our neighborhoods behind. That is not good for Monroe, and it is not what we were elected to do. We sit in those seats to fight for our neighbors. Last night, we did.

Here is where I’ll leave it. We will work with this administration. We will represent our districts, and those districts will be respected. Because every citizen of Monroe deserves the same treatment. The same phone call. The same seat at the table. The same word kept, whether you live on the north side or the south side. That is a promise to every citizen who has felt forgotten. Monroe is one city. It is time it was governed like one.

Juanita Woods, Monroe City Council, Vice Chair, District 3

You can read the other reactions to the meeting from this week here.

MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — Tonight’s City Council meeting was adjourned at the start after three of four council members who were present voted to adjourn, leaving several agenda items on hold amid the ongoing dispute over the city’s fire chief appointment.

The council was set to review numerous items, including businesses seeking to renew their alcohol licenses, businesses applying for permits, a half-million-dollar grant, and a nonprofit seeking a provisional zoning reassignment. An agenda Mayor Friday Ellis says was too important to put aside.

“There were some serious things on this agenda tonight that got put aside because of the reckless actions and irresponsible actions of City Council over a disagreement over the fire chief for the city of Monroe. And again, if they feel like that’s hurting the mayor, it’s not. It’s hurting taxpayers, it’s hurting businesses, it’s hurting nonprofits here trying to conduct business,” said Ellis.

Councilwoman Gretchen Ezernack was the only council member who disagreed with ending the meeting. I spoke with her off-camera, and she said she wasn’t sure why the meeting had been adjourned. But tonight’s meeting comes just days after Gov. Jeff Landry reappointed Timothy Williams as Monroe’s fire chief.

Under a new state law, if a fire chief vacancy lasts more than 12 consecutive months and the local governing authority fails or declines to confirm an appointment, the governor can step in and make the appointment. Monroe had gone nearly two years without a permanent fire chief, putting the city in the circumstances covered by that law. Mayor Ellis says the path forward is about recognizing where they disagree while still moving forward on the things they agree on.

“We are codependent upon one another to get business done. And if you can’t put your ego aside to help small businesses, to help nonprofits, to help people doing business, conducting the business of the city aside, that’s a dereliction of duty,” said Ellis.

The City Council has now filed additional lawsuits challenging the state’s intervention in the fire chief appointment. One federal lawsuit argues the state law allows Gov. Landry to bypass Monroe’s majority-Black City Council and weakens its decision-making power. A separate state court lawsuit challenges whether the state can override Monroe’s Home Rule Charter and give the governor appointing power. The council has sued Timothy Williams, Mayor Friday Ellis, Gov. Jeff Landry and state Sen. Stewart Cathy, who sponsored the law. The first federal lawsuit was dismissed in March, but an appeal was later filed.

Mayor Ellis says the council has been inconsistent about why it did not meet with the fire chief candidates, but he says he is relieved they have now made their position clear.

“But it must be said and it must be noted that all of this is getting lost is that the Monroe Fire Department is gaining a quality individual who’s well respected throughout the state and in his own community,” said Ellis.

Timothy Williams is set to take his position as Monroe fire chief on Oct. 1.