While Louisiana’s overall economy is feeling the impact of continued depressed oil prices, the nine-parish Capital Region continues to benefit from an industrial construction boom, according to economist Loren Scott, who is delivering his annual Louisiana Economic Outlook at Business Report’s Top 100 Luncheon today.
According to Scott, the Baton Rouge region is poised to see job growth of 1.1% in 2017 and 1.1% again in 2018—about 4,500 new jobs per year. That’s fewer than was projected last year at this time and only about half as many new jobs as were added to the economy in 2016. But Scott says part of the reason for the slowdown in new jobs is that some of the mega construction projects are nearing completion and will begin using fewer workers in 2017.
Baton Rouge has a record $10.1 billion in industrial projects under construction.
Perhaps surprisingly, Scott does not expect record flooding in August to have a significant impact on the area’s economy, though he says how the region recovers will depend to a large extent on the amount of federal aid Congress appropriates to the state and its flood victims.
“If anything, we are expecting an uptick in construction employment as all the insurance, FEMA and SBA monies begin flowing into the region for the rebuilding area,” he says.
As for the state overall, Scott’s projections call for the economy to remain essentially flat in 2017, with a net job loss of roughly 700 jobs, and a recovery starting in 2018.
The Top 100 Luncheon is part of the Louisiana Business Symposium, which kicked off with an awards ceremony for the Best Places to Work in Baton Rouge.
Read more about the Louisiana Economic Outlook in Daily Report PM.
—Stephanie Riegel
