What the job numbers tell us

Employment numbers can be quite revealing about trends in the economy. The employment numbers recently released by the Louisiana Department of Labor tell us that the economy in most areas of the state is rebounding, but it still has a long way to equal the statewide levels existing before Katrina and Rita hit us.

The unemployment rate in Louisiana was 4.3 percent in December, slightly lower than the national average of 4.5 percent. That means Louisianans who are looking for a job are quite likely to find one.

The large out-migration of workers in the wake of the hurricanes left many jobs open in the state, and those vacant positions are being filled rather slowly. Last December’s non-farm job totals increased by about 4,000 over November and registered a 59,400 increase over the total non-farm employment figure of December 2005.

Comparisons with the low point of employment reached in October of 2005 are revealing. Louisiana is almost a two-world state: New Orleans still suffering significantly from job losses and the rest of the state making gains. Total job losses in New Orleans remain at 163,100 since the storms struck.

By contrast, Lake Charles—significantly impacted by Hurricane Rita—has gained 2,100 jobs. Baton Rouge is by far the leader in job growth during the recovery, adding 21,400 jobs since October 2005.

New Orleans has an abundance of jobs available in construction, the hospitality industry, health care and almost every other employment category. The challenges to filling those positions remain complex. A significant amount of the basic infrastructure still needs to be repaired or replaced; schools are frantically searching for qualified teachers; and housing—though somewhat improved—remains an obstacle from the standpoints of price and availability.

The demand for workers in Louisiana makes the economic marketplace very worker friendly. As labor force demands have increased, so have wages and salaries in Louisiana. The combination of demand for workers outstripping the supply continues to keep wage levels high.

This is a turnaround from a few years ago when sluggish job demand was creating a downward pressure on wages and salaries.

The current job market trend of high job demand and inadequate number of qualified individuals to fill open positions is going to force more of an emphasis on workforce development in both the public and private sectors.

All too often, the focus on the job market seems to be on winning the employment “lottery” by landing a huge manufacturing facility that creates thousands of jobs. Those events happen rather infrequently. If all the unfilled, good-paying existing jobs in various categories are added together, they would far surpass the number that numerous steel mills and automotive assembly plants would bring to the state. Those jobs are available through companies that are already here and do not need extensive infrastructure grants and incentive packages from government. What they need is a better trained workforce and better use of the education and training dollars already sent to Baton Rouge by Louisiana taxpayers.

A casual observer could look at the latest employment figures and find cause for either optimism or pessimism. Is it possible for Louisiana to get back to the pre-hurricane levels of employment? Yes, it is. But we should also remember that before the hurricanes, many of our best and brightest were leaving for better job opportunities elsewhere.

Making Louisiana competitive with other states when it comes to government-imposed costs and workforce development is imperative if we are ever to become more competitive than we were before disasters struck.