Louisiana
See which sectors are driving job creation in Louisiana
The health care sector has contributed the most new jobs to Louisiana’s economy over the past five years, according to the latest economic intelligence dashboard from the Committee of 100 for Economic Development.
Three sectors in particular—health services and private education, professional and business services and manufacturing—led Louisiana in job creation, contributing nearly 20,000 new jobs from May 2019 to May 2024. Of those 20,000 jobs, the health care sector accounted for the vast majority with 14,700.
The professional and business services sector has added 2,800 jobs over the past five years, and the manufacturing sector has added 1,900. Manufacturing employment is currently at its highest level since early 2016.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the three sectors that lost the most jobs from May 2019 to May 2024 were leisure and hospitality, government, and transportation and utilities.
The leisure and hospitality sector lost the most jobs over the past five years, shedding 19,000. Sixty-two percent of those lost jobs, which can largely be traced back to the COVID-19 pandemic, were in the New Orleans metro. The government sector lost 10,600 jobs over the past five years, and the transportation and utilities sector lost 7,400.
Other notable findings in C100’s new dashboard:
- Six of Louisiana’s nine metros gained jobs year over year in May and the state’s total nonfarm employment rose by 0.3%. Among Southern states, Louisiana outpaced only Tennessee in job growth.
- New job postings in Louisiana dropped year over year in June, reflecting national trends of a cooling labor market.
- If Louisiana were to reach the national average for labor force participation, the state would gain 139,000 jobs.
“Taken as a whole, this [dashboard] shows Louisiana is adding jobs statewide and in most of its metropolitan areas, but doing so slower than other Southern states in the U.S. and during a period of declining number of new job postings,” a statement from C100 reads.
The Committee of 100 for Economic Development is an economic development organization with a stated goal of improving Louisiana’s competitiveness by advocating for public policy changes and bringing together the state’s leaders in academia and business.
A state lawmaker whose district includes Iberville and nine other parishes will lead the way on the drawing of a new congressional map when the committee convenes Friday.
Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, will chair the hearings to draw a new congressional district map. He currently serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
On Wednesday, Kleinpeter said he has not worked on any maps. He is letting the committee members and the members of the Senate work on this with staff.
The move will come nine days after the U.S. Supreme Court on a 6-3 vote ruled one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black U.S. House districts unconstitutional.
“We can’t base it on race anymore, so the minority party is the Democrats,” he said. “The Democrats have migrated away from the New Orléans area, so we’re looking at Democrats versus Republicans, so the minority party — the Democrats — which means it’s more favored toward Baton Rouge.”
The move would work in favor of incumbent 6th District Congressman Cleo Fields, who was a candidate for the race which Gov. Jeff Lndry suspended in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
The ruling stemmed from Louisiana vs. Callais – a consolidation of Robinson vs. Callais – that centered on racial gerrymandering and redistricting in the state of Louisiana following the 2020 United States census. The lead plaintiff, Phillip “Bert” Callais, is a resident of Brusly.
The Supreme Court vote came despite the African American population comprising nearly one-third of the state’s population.
According to the 2020 Census, the Black or African American population in Louisiana was approximately 1,464,023,representing 31.4%of the state’s total population. Louisiana has one of the highest percentages of Black residents in the United States, ranking second behind Mississippi.
The Baton Rouge district would likely be the area to undergo the remap, he said.
It amounts to an intricate balancing act.
“What far-right Republicans don’t understand is that with Congress maps, you have to be within 776, 280 votes – within 50 votes of the other districts,” Kleinpeter said. “It’s not like our legislative maps where you can be off by thousands … when you start changing a precinct, it can run down a rabbit hole chasing this precinct over here and over there.
“We can easily draw a really strong nine Republican and one strong Democrat, so if you start watering districts down you could wind up with a 4-2 map.”
Republicans currently have a two-vote super majority vote.
“But some Republican districts are strong and others are weak,” Kleinpeter said. “If you take 58 percent Democrats and put them in Republican districts, you could end up losing Republicans.
“Drawing congress maps is very difficult – you have the leader of the party, and you have the Speaker of the House you have to protect,” he said. “You don’t want to jeopardize their maps at hole.”
One other issue is looming for the state, Kleinpeter said.
“What people don’t understand is that we will have to do this all over again in five years, after the next census comes out,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll people by that time.”
The 2030 Census will play a key role in the process, but it still requires participation.
“I had plenty of next-door neighbors who didn’t want to fill out their census” he said. “I’m going to push to fill out their census. We miss out on federal money and potentially risk losing a seat. “
Neuty, the iconic Bucktown nutria visits the state capitol, with Myra Lacoste, Denny Lacoste, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, Dennis Lacoste Sr., and Louisiana state Senator J. Cameron Henry Jr. Neuty was an orphan, rescued by the Lacostes. In March 2023, LDWF agents attempted to confiscate the illegal pet.
VIDALIA, La. — Louisiana State Police arrested 18-year-old Gregory Steele early Sunday morning on two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of underage operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, one count vehicular negligent injuring and one count careless operation, according to Concordia Parish Jail records.
Steele, 18, a white male, was arrested in connection with an accident that occurred at approximately 1:54 a.m. on Sunday morning on Minorca Road in Vidalia. Two passengers in the vehicle were killed. Steele and another passenger were able to escape the vehicle.
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