News alert: Economists predict 9K new jobs for Capital Region in next two years

Cheap natural gas is fueling optimism in the petrochemical and industrial construction sectors, leading economists Loren Scott and Jim Richardson to predict the Capital Region will add about 5,000 jobs (+1.4%) in 2013 and about 4,000 jobs (+1.1%) in 2014. In their report “The Louisiana Economic Outlook: 2013 and 2014,” released this afternoon at Business Report‘s Top 100 Luncheon, Scott and Richardson count at least $4.1 billion in projects announced or under way in the area, while also mentioning several potential projects that could be worth hundreds of millions—if not billions more. However, the optimism is tempered by the prospect of state government job reductions and the disappointing results so far in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, where more than a million acres have been leased by exploration companies but only a handful of producing wells have been drilled. The chemical sector’s competitive advantage might be threatened if hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” catches on in Europe, driving down natural gas prices there as it has here. Scott and Richardson “find a state enjoying very nice prospects in most areas but being held back by weak growth in New Orleans and Shreveport in 2013.” They expect Louisiana to add about 22,700 jobs in 2013 (+1.2%) and another 27,500 in 2014 (+1.4%). They estimate the state will reach 1,945,700 jobs this year, a 3.2% increase since the trough of the recession, to set a new employment record in Louisiana. Read Daily Report PM today for additional coverage of Scott’s presentation of the forecast at the Top 100 Luncheon. —David Jacobs