BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — New data released by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber shows that construction jobs have rebounded, adding nearly 4,000 jobs year-over-year.
BRAC’s economic indicator dashboard shows Baton Rouge added 2,300 new jobs between January and February, including 1,600 new construction jobs. “Construction jobs are up 8.4%
over the last 12 months, up 36% from their pandemic-era low point,” according to BRAC.
Jobs in the metro area are reportedly up 8,500 or 2.1% from February of last year. BRAC said industries in construction, professional services, government, education and healthcare and manufacturing added jobs in February.
“The regional economy continues to show strength through the first quarter of 2023, and job growth can be seen in nearly every sector,” said Andrew Fitzgerald, senior vice president of business intelligence for BRAC. “Construction, in particular, has rebounded and added nearly 4,000 jobs year-over-year.”
The city of Baton Rouge is behind only Greenville, South Carolina and New Orleans for year-over-year percentage job growth, according to BRAC.
“Total wages paid nearly doubled in the industry from 2021 to 2022,” said Fitzgerald. “With billions of dollars of investment anticipated in emerging technologies like carbon capture and sequestration, the state and region could see further growth in this high-wage industry – average construction earnings statewide are over $80,000 annually, significantly higher than the state’s median household income of about $53,000.”
Other key findings from BRAC:
- The size of the Capitol Region’s labor force hit a new record in February
- The region’s unemployment rate fell to 3.1% in February
- After falling for two consecutive months, job postings were stagnant in February
- The average daily rate for area hotels is almost 33% above pre-pandemic rates
Click here to see the economic dashboard.
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