As labor markets crash nationwide, New Orleans is holding onto its jobs

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2008/11/as_labor_markets_crash_nationw.html

by Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune
Saturday November 29, 2008, 10:00 PM


Rusty Costanza / The Times-PicayuneLocal employers continue to add jobs despite the economic downturn that has hit other major cities in force. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Avondale has an acute need for skilled workers such as pipefitters and electricians.

In the first months after Hurricane Katrina, one of the most striking indications of how drastically the labor landscape had changed was the $6,000 bonus offered by Burger King to would-be full-time employees.

The generous bonus exemplified just how badly the region needed workers to return after the storm emptied the city.

A new hire would be hard-pressed to come away with such a huge reward in the metro area today. But in contrast to other parts of the country, where companies are issuing pink slips by the thousands, local employers across a broad spectrum of industries are still adding jobs.

Employment numbers for New Orleans metro area, Louisiana and United States.

The region's labor market appears to be holding up better than the nation's as a whole, as companies whose ranks were depleted during Katrina continue to replenish their work force. Job prospects are especially bright for skilled and educated workers, who are perpetually in short supply in this area.

The seven-parish metro area gained 9,600 non-farm jobs from October 2007 to October 2008, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. From September to October, as the effects of nation's spiraling economy began to take hold, the area added 5,800 jobs.

The picture is much different on the national scale. The country shed 240,000 jobs from September to October and more than 727,000 in a year-over-year comparison with October 2007.

FULL story at link.

[FrenchieCat]

1. Well, when there is a city to literally rebuild, and 100,000 citizens

are missing from the job rolls, of course, New Orleans is going to look good in terms of its labor market compared to the National picture. This Article was written with the agenda of being included into Gov. Bobby Jindal's PR file for 2012, and nothing more.