Economist: La. will be one of the last states to exit recession

A new forecast says Louisiana will be one of the last states to get out of the recession, with employment growth not resuming until the third quarter of 2010. “It’s kind of a first in, first out situation,” says Mike Zoller, an associate economist with Moody’s Economy.com, which did the forecast. Moody’s notes that Louisiana didn’t enter the recession until October, about 10 months after California, and the state didn’t record a year-to-year drop in the number of jobs until April. There’s been a split between the economic fortunes of north and south Louisiana, Zoller says. While the southern portion of the state has held up well because of hurricane rebuilding, the manufacturing industries in the northern part of the state have been hit by the national downturn. “Also, the Haynesville natural gas field is not growing as fast as expected,” Zoller says. The recession in Louisiana hasn’t been as bad as the rest of the nation, but the drop in offshore oil drilling has been “a thorn in the side,” he says. Moody’s says five states should exit the recession by the fourth quarter of this year: Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington. Those states are benefiting from their strong high-tech industries. For a map of Moody’s forecast, click here.—Timothy Boone