Louisiana economy continues to improve!

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BILL LODGE| BLODGE@THEADVOCATE.COM


Louisiana’s gross domestic product increased by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, the fourth-fastest pace in the nation, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

BEA defines gross domestic product as the total of goods and services produced by labor and property in a state or nation.

Stephen Moret, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, said the state’s growth spurt was expected.

For the past 6 years, Moret said, “Louisiana’s real GDP growth has been roughly twice as fast as that of the U.S. overall, based on the latest official data from the … BEA.”

Moret said the 5.4 percent growth rate “is not a surprising result given that Louisiana’s economy has outperformed that of the South and U.S. overall since January 2008, whether considering job growth, unemployment, GDP growth or other economic measures.”

For the next five years, Moret added, growth in jobs and GDP is expected to remain strong in Louisiana.

“Louisiana has some of the most favorable manufacturing conditions in the world,” Adam Knapp, president and chief executive officer of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber said. “China, of all places, is offshoring manufacturing to Louisiana.”

Michael Hecht, president and chief executive officer of Greater New Orleans Inc., noted work has begun on more than $60 billion in planned industrial plants and expansions across the state.

“Louisiana is leading the South in economic development wins, and the economic measures are likely beginning to reflect the job and wage creation inherent in those projects, Hecht said.”

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BY BILL LODGE| BLODGE@THEADVOCATE.COM

The Baton Rouge and New Orleans metro areas each gained 12,600 nonfarm jobs over the year ended July 31, the Louisiana Workforce Commission reported Friday.

Seasonally adjusted numbers showed that was a 3.3 percent increase to a new total of 397,200 jobs in the Baton Rouge area.

Big job gains were experienced at both goods-producing businesses and those that provide services in Baton Rouge, LWC officials reported.

New Orleans had an uptick of 2.3 percent to boost its job total to 557,300. The service-providing sector was responsible for most of that increase, according to the LWC.

The Lafayette area ended July with 163,800 jobs, an increase of 4,900, or 3.1 percent over the same month in 2013. Goods producers and service providers split the majority of those new jobs.

The Lake Charles area, in the beginning stages of an industrial boom expected to add as much as $34 billion in new facilities, had the largest 1-year rate of growth in the state — 4.1 percent. That was an increase of 3,800 jobs, which placed the area’s total at 95,700.

Two percent job growth in the Houma-Thibodaux area pushed that region’s new total to 101,800.

Job gains also were recorded for the Shreveport and Monroe areas.

Shreveport employment grew 1.2 percent, or 2,000 jobs, to a July 31 total of 172,800 jobs.

Monroe attracted 700 new jobs, a nearly 1 percent gain, boosting its year-over-year total to 79,000.

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BY BILL LODGE| BLODGE@THEADVOCATE.COM

Nonfarm employment reached a state record 1,981,300 in July, the Louisiana Workforce Commission reported in preliminary numbers Monday.

That was a gain of 31,800 over nonfarm employment a year earlier, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

State employment records also were set in July for the construction (139,300); professional and business services (214,000); education and health services (296,600); as well as leisure and hospitality (222,600) sectors, LWC officials reported.

“These gains show that people at every skill level are finding work in Louisiana,” LWC Executive Director Curt Eysink said. “This growth is diversified, representing a broad array of opportunities that anyone can participate in if they choose.”

Louisiana’s unemployment rate last month was 5.4 percent, down a percentage point from a year earlier. The state rate was 0.8 percentage points below the nation’s unemployment rate of 6.2 percent.

For more than a year, scores of companies have told LWC officials their plans for building new plants or expanding existing facilities totaling more than $60 billion statewide.

“We’ve set and broken multiple employment records for three consecutive months, which tells us the expected increase in hiring has begun,” Eysink said.

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