The Baton Rouge metro area has posted year-over-year losses in construction jobs for the past eight consecutive months, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, though there are some early indications the trend could reverse in 2020.
Local construction employment began dropping in March, when Baton Rouge lost 1,800 jobs, about 3%, from 2018. From then through at least October the metro area has seen a steady stream of year-over-year construction job losses, the largest of which took place in June when employment fell by 5,600, or 9.8%.
By October, Baton Rouge was down some 2,800 jobs, about 5%, from the previous year, BLS data show.
Why the slow year, particularly given the fact that most metro areas across the country were gaining construction jobs throughout 2019? There appear to be multiple factors at play.
Economist Loren Scott has described the Baton Rouge area as being in an industrial construction “lull” throughout 2019, caught in a trough between two “crests” of explosive activity (2018 and 2020). In short, says Scott: Most projects were wrapping up, and others aren’t expected to pick up until 2020.
But that’s been exacerbated by certain challenges deeply ingrained in Baton Rouge’s political and business fabric, ABC Pelican President David Helveston previously told Business Report, such as the continued uncertainty surrounding the industrial tax exemption program as well as other issues embedded in Louisiana’s tax code.
Despite the pattern of dwindling construction job figures, some elements are working in the Baton Rouge area’s favor for the upcoming year.
Preliminary BLS figures peg a miniscule 0.4% year-over-year loss in construction jobs for the area in November, which would be the best figures for the year since February, with Baton Rouge adding 1,200 jobs since October. Scott also predicts a round of planned, large-scale private sector investments and public sector projects will revive local construction employment. Among them are Shintech’s $1.5 billion expansion, Methanex’s new $1.4 billion methanol unit and the dozens of projects tied to the $1 billion MovEBR program.
