By rebalancing trade and investing in infrastructure, clean energy and energy efficiency, Louisiana could gain a net 91,400 jobs by 2024, according to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute, representing some 4.5% of the state’s employment.
To rebuild the nation’s domestic economy, the report’s authors outline a two-pronged strategy: reducing the valuation of the U.S. dollar and rebuilding the “competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing industries,” and investing $2 trillion over four years in improvements to infrastructure, clean energy and energy efficiency. The approach would rebalance the U.S. trade deficit with the rest of the world and create at least 6.9 million new, good-paying jobs.
Every state as well as Washington, D.C., would benefit from the investment stimulus, the report shows, with Louisiana seeing the 28th-largest increase in jobs.
Of the estimated 91,400 jobs the stimulus would create in the state, about 27,500 would go to infrastructure and 12,900 would go to clean energy and energy efficiency. Meanwhile, rebalancing trade would support 51,100 jobs.
Throughout the U.S., the 6.9 million newly created jobs would include approximately 2.5 million manufacturing jobs (36%) and 471,000 construction jobs (6.8%). Another 2.1 million jobs (30%) would create high-wage jobs for Americans who don’t have a college degree, in areas such as nonelectrical machinery, fabricated metal products and motor vehicles.
Additionally, the EPI report projects job gains in transportation, agriculture/forestry/fisheries, administrative and support services, professional/scientific/support services, wholesale trade and mining.
Read a summary of the report’s findings. The full EPI report is also available on the organization’s website and includes details on methodology and analytical tools.
