ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOCUS IN THESE AREAS PAYS OFF
New Orleans, La. — “Clearly, the economic development focus on Information Technology and Retail attraction in New Orleans is paying off,” said Quentin L. Messer, Jr., president and CEO of the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA). According to data just released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Orleans Parish experienced 2.8 percent employment growth in between Q2 2014 and Q2 2015, amounting to a 5,139-job increase. This number accounts for more than half of the new jobs added across the metro region. The largest gains came in the IT, Retail and Hospitality sectors, each adding more than 1,200 new jobs during the year-to-year period.
“This is a numeric validation of the unprecedented collaboration among the city’s economic development community,” added Messer. “It shows us we’re headed in the right direction. We’ve had a very successful 2015 in terms of business attraction, and there is more to come. Economic development is about changing lives, giving our citizens the economic stability to care for their families, participate in society and be productive. We still have work to do, but 5,000 new jobs is certainly a great start toward altering the futures of many New Orleans residents. “
According to Tre Rials, senior research associate at NOLABA, the IT sector counts a broad collection of occupations. “In this case, IT covers jobs we traditionally would think of in this sector, including many of the kinds NOLABA and others have worked to recruit to the city, such as software development, app development, web design and development. It also includes telecommunications firms and film and video production. The retail jobs are a definite product of increasing the number of retailers citywide.”
The Louisiana Workforce Commission data also shows that, overall, wages remained stable during that Q2 2014 – Q2 2015 period, with a 2.8 percent improvement in average weekly wages in the office sector. Wage contraction was greatest in the arts sector, which saw a decrease from $763 to $520 per week.
