Louisiana is among a handful of energy dependent U.S. states ranked at the bottom of Gallup’s recently released 2016 Job Creation Index.
Of the 50 states, Louisiana ranks No. 45 for below average job creation last year. The state has an index score of 20.
“Two types of states dominate the bottom 10—those whose economies depend heavily on the oil, gas or coal industry and those with small populations,” Gallup writes. “In addition to Wyoming and North Dakota, other low-ranking states relying heavily on the energy sector include Louisiana, West Virginia, Alaska and Oklahoma.”
Louisiana lost roughly 4,600 jobs in 2016 as oil prices continued to depress the energy sector and help propel the state into a recession, even as much of the U.S. continued to move away from the depths of the Great Recession.
“It has become increasingly clear that the big losers have been states relying heavily on jobs tied to the energy industry,” Gallup says. “Wyoming, North Dakota, Louisiana, Alaska, Oklahoma and West Virginia all ranked in the top four states for job creation in either 2008, 2009 or 2010, when the price of oil often soared. In both of the last two years, with oil prices much lower than a decade ago, all but North Dakota have ranked in the bottom 10.”
Louisiana, Gallup notes, scored lower in job creation in 2016 than in 2011, during a period when the national score more than doubled, from 14 to 32. Nevada tops the ranking. Oklahoma, Montana, West Virginia, Alaska and Wyoming rounded out the bottom five on the 2016 job creation index.
The index is derived from surveys of workers in each state that were conducted between Jan. 2, 2016, and Dec. 30, 2016. The index score is based on the percentage of workers saying their place of employment is increasing the size of its workforce, minus the percentage saying their place of employment is reducing the size of its workforce.
Gallup interviewed 2,732 Louisiana workers.
