Scott: Baton Rouge will see job growth of roughly 1% through 2013

A construction boom in the large chemical industry will help the Capital Region create more jobs than Louisiana at large over the next two years, according to an economic forecast unveiled today by LSU economist Loren Scott at Business Report‘s Top 100 Private Companies Luncheon. Overall, job growth in the state through 2013 is going to be modest. If the economic recovery were a color, Scott says, it would be “a cautionary yellow—not green.” The Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area, which includes East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension, Iberville, St. Helena, Pointe Coupee, East Feliciana and West Feliciana parishes, is expected to see a net growth of 4,400 jobs in 2012, or 1.2%, and another 0.9% growth, or 3,300 jobs, in 2013. That’s slightly better than the state in general, which Scott says will see a growth rate of 0.8% over the next two years combined. New companies and expanding firms will likely boost the state’s economy, Scott says, as could major new activity in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale. However, additional layoffs in state government are also a possibility, he says. Read more about Scott’s forecast in Daily Report PM. —Ian McGibboney