Last to first in jobs

The Capital Region went from the slowest job growth among six Southern peers last fall to the fastest this fall, and construction cranes did most of the lifting.

Why it matters: The region’s job boom is essentially an industrial construction boom. With jobs outside the sector holding steady, the regional economy rides on how fast the next plant goes up.

Peer check: The region’s 3.2% job growth beat all five comparable Southern metros over the past year, according to The Partnership’s third-quarter report.

• The region added 13,700 jobs, more than larger Greenville (12,100) and Birmingham (6,300), and its 441,600 total jobs sit mid-pack between Knoxville (456,300) and Columbia (440,000).
• Unemployment isn’t the peer leader, but the 3.5% August rate was the lowest August on record. That figure beats Columbia, Greenville and Little Rock, but Birmingham (3.4%) and Knoxville (3.2%) are still lower.
• The rate was 4.3% a year ago, when the region ran above the peer average. Now it’s in line with peers and slightly below Louisiana’s 3.7%.

The engine: Construction added 12,300 jobs over the year (+26%) and hit a record 58,700, while jobs outside the industry held about level.

• Professional and business services (+3,300) and private education and health services (+1,800) grew. Government (-3,400), trade, transportation and utilities (-1,100) and leisure and hospitality (-900) shrank.
• These are good jobs. The typical construction worker here earns about $105,700 a year, above both the region’s $69,293 median household income and the nation’s $81,600.
• The pipeline is deep, with Hut 8’s $10 billion data center in West Feliciana Parish opening in 2027 and Hyundai Steel’s Donaldsonville mill opening in 2029, projected to need up to 4,800 construction workers at peak.
• A cautionary flag is that revised data show the region lost about 8,000 jobs from February to August 2025 when construction slowed.

Paychecks and prices: Capital Region workers earn more per week than workers in any other Louisiana metro, and the region’s cost advantages held through a fuel price spike.

• Private sector pay averaged $1,236.65 a week in September, about 3% above New Orleans, and grew 5.5% over the year against 3.7% inflation. New Orleans pay grew faster (+10.5%).
• Regular gas at $3.85 and diesel at $5.79 are 48 cents and 54 cents below national averages, even as prices are up 46% and 79% over the year.
• Louisiana’s industrial electricity rate of 6.65 cents per kilowatt-hour is the lowest in the South and 26% below the national average.
• Home values are up 26% since 2019 versus 48% nationally, rents are up 27% versus 40%, and the typical $1,366 rent takes about a quarter of the average private sector worker’s monthly pay.

Since June: Construction still drives the numbers, as RedEye reported in June, but the pace has picked up.

• Job growth doubled, from 1.6% in June to 3.2% now.
• Construction’s year-over-year gain nearly doubled, from 6,500 jobs to 12,300.
• Unemployment and claims are both heading down now. In June, claims were falling while the rate rose, and claims averaged 1,227 in September, down 28.7% from a year ago.

The bottom line: Industrial construction is carrying the Capital Region. Growth in other sectors would signal a more vibrant regional economy.