BATON ROUGE - Governor John Bel Edwards announced Friday that Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Cates, who's been in charge of the state's unemployment system for over seven years, is leaving her job.

Read the full announcement below.

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that Louisiana Workforce Commission Sec. Ava Cates will resign effective August 31, 2023.

“Sec. Cates has served honorably since the beginning of my administration,” said Gov. Edwards. “Under her leadership at the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Louisiana has achieved record-breaking low unemployment with more people working than ever before. This already incredible feat is even more remarkable considering the challenges of natural disasters and the COVID pandemic. I am especially grateful to her and her team for their dedication to helping Louisianans navigate those difficult times and access the assistance they needed.”

“Serving in Gov. Edwards’ administration has been a privilege and an honor,” said Sec. Cates. “Over the past nearly eight years, Louisiana has experienced many hardships as well as triumphs. I am so proud of the dedicated and talented staff of the Louisiana Workforce Commission who have contributed to the remarkable growth of Louisiana’s workforce by hosting job fairs, apprenticeship programs, and JAG programs for our youth. When the pandemic hit, LWC staff worked around the clock to ensure individuals received unemployment benefits. While my departure is bittersweet, I am confident that the department will continue our mission of putting people to work.”

Sec. Cates was appointed by Gov. Edwards in January of 2016 when the unemployment rate was at 6 percent. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted rate peaked in April of 2020 at 13.5 percent. LWC worked around the clock to combat the effects of the pandemic and put people back to work. For several consecutive months now, Louisiana has experienced some of the lowest unemployment rates on record. The most recently published data reports that Louisiana’s unemployment rate is 3.6 percent, and the number of employed individuals is 2,039,425, a new record high for the state. Louisiana was also one of the first states to implement unemployment benefit and fraud protection programs using CARES Act funding and has paid out approximately $11 billion to nearly 1 million individuals.