Southwest Louisiana economy a mixed bag

Real-estate and automobile sales took a tumble in Southwest Louisiana last year, but holiday spending was higher than it has been in two years, a new economic report concludes. The H.C. Drew Center for Economic Development Information Services at McNeese State University reports that the total dollar volume of all real estate sales in the five-parish area that includes Lake Charles fell 13% to $293 million. Additionally, motor vehicle sales dropped nearly 12% by $100 million in Calcasieu Parish alone. But other sectors have yet to feel the effects of the recession. Miscellaneous sales, which includes a number of small business, were up 19%, and overall spending in the last three months of the year topped spending during the same months in 2006 and 2007. And the tonnage shipped through Port of Lake Charles facilities also increased by 9% – much of it in bulk shipments. The Drew Center projects that several large projects will “help stabilize regional employment and income in 2009 and beyond.” These include a $115 million joint venture between Shaw Group and Westinghouse to produce modules for building nuclear power plants; the $1.6 billion Lake Charles Cogeneration gasification facility, Pinnacle Entertainment’s construction of Sugarcane Bay resort and Sempra Energy’s $750 million liquefied natural gas terminal near Hackberry. – PBF