State standout: Lake Charles tops a 31-city list compiled by 24/7 Wall St. of cities adding the most jobs over the past 5 years, USA Today reports Overall employment in Lake Charles climbed 28.3% in the past five years, the greatest gain of any U.S. metro area and nearly quadruple the 7.2% national employment growth. Over half of the 24,482 newly employed residents in the metro area found work in the mining, logging, and construction industry. Read the full story.
Increasing access: More than 54,000 rural homes and businesses in north Louisiana will gain access to high-speed internet service thanks to $22 million in federal funding, according to Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell in a Shreveport Times report. The “Connect America” program of the Federal Communications Commission is helping fiber, wireless and satellite internet providers meet the need for broadband service in unserved or underserved areas of north Louisiana. Campbell said the FCC has given AT&T and CenturyLink a deadline to finish their build-out of broadband service statewide by the end of 2020. Read the full story.
Price slides: Consumer prices climbed 0.3% in October, with higher prices for gasoline, used autos and housing contributing to the increase. The Labor Department says this measure of inflation has jumped 2.5% over the past 12 months. Adjusted for rising prices, average weekly wages have improved 0.9% this year. That’s an increase of $8.52 in weekly earnings from October 2017. Read the full story.
