9.6.22 – Business Report — Most of Louisiana’s metro areas are within 5% of their pre-pandemic jobs numbers, The Daily Advertiser reports.
Most of Louisiana’s metro areas are within 5% of their pre-pandemic jobs numbers, The Daily Advertiser reports, though many are still potentially more than a year away from a full recovery, a new forecast from UL Lafayette shows.
A forecast for the third quarter of 2022 from ULL’s B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration shows that two of Louisiana’s metropolitan statistical areas have surpassed their pre-COVID employment numbers, but the remaining seven are still facing a year-plus of recovery.
Gary Wagner, the ULL economics professor who authors the quarterly forecasts, writes that economic conditions—with the exemptions of employment rates and home prices—have continued to deteriorate nationwide, leading to a downgrade in his forecast for Louisiana’s metro areas.
“Statewide inflation-adjusted GDP is expected to contract again in Q2, bringing the state to the edge of an economic downturn,” Wagner writes. “Employment growth is expected to be very weak in every metro area in the next year.” Read the full story.