BATON ROUGE, LA — Recent figures released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission show the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Area has reached its highest seasonally adjusted employment numbers in history and its second highest non-seasonally adjusted employment numbers after last year’s record. Baton Rouge gained 2,600 jobs from September 2018 and 400 jobs from August 2019. The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area is at series high for employment with 412,600 jobs.
“Baton Rouge is prospering at rates never seen before thanks to the hard work of employees, entrepreneurs, business executives and community leaders,” said Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome. “Under my administration, Baton Rouge will always be open for business.”
Based on the size of our Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP), Baton Rouge now ranks in the Top 15% for municipal economies, according to the most recent U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual ranking and study of the economic output of Cities and States. The Baton Rouge metropolitan area ranks 59 out of 381 cities in the country.
Even more jobs are expected in the next two years with the influx of major industrial expansions and infrastructure programs like ExxonMobil polyolefins, Formosa Plastics, the widening of I-10, and MOVEBR. The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Area will add 11,700 jobs through 2021, according to a recent study by economist Loren Scott.
By these measures, the Baton Rouge economy is doing better than ever before.