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New Orleans metro area economic highlights

March 05, 2019

In the spirit of Mardi Gras, let's look at the economy of the New Orleans metro area. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest industry in this metropolitan area, with 116,100 jobs in December 2018. This was a 0.6-percent increase from December 2017. Education and health services provided 103,200 jobs, and leisure and hospitality provided 91,000 jobs. Construction had the largest percent growth over the last 12 months, with a 7.5-percent increase from December 2017.

 New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana metro area employment by industry
Industry December 2018 (p) December 2017 12-month percent change (p)

Total nonfarm

591,600 578,700 2.2%

Trade, transportation, and utilities

116,100 115,400 0.6

Education and health services

103,200 100,500 2.7

Leisure and hospitality

91,000 88,600 2.7

Professional and business services

78,000 76,900 1.4

Government

72,800 72,400 0.6

Manufacturing

32,200 30,900 4.2

Construction

31,400 29,200 7.5

Financial activities

30,800 29,400 4.8

Information

7,000 6,900 1.4

Mining and logging

4,400 4,300 2.3
Footnotes:

(p) Preliminary

Before 2014, the New Orleans area had average hourly earnings greater than both the national and state averages. In December 2018, the New Orleans-area average hourly earnings were $25.41, compared with the national average of $27.68 and the Louisiana average of $23.71.

 Average hourly earnings, December 2008–18
Year National New Orleans-Metairie metro area Louisiana

2008

$21.96 $22.10 $19.44

2009

22.38 22.43 19.57

2010

22.76 23.00 19.74

2011

23.22 24.22 21.10

2012

23.85 25.32 21.85

2013

24.30 24.86 22.23

2014

24.59 24.17 21.94

2015

25.21 24.54 22.38

2016

25.87 25.11 22.83

2017

26.58 25.40 23.07

2018

27.68 25.41 23.71

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) program and are not seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Southwest Information Office - Louisiana." We also have more charts on metropolitan area employment and unemployment.

 

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, New Orleans metro area economic highlights at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/new-orleans-metro-area-economic-highlights.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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