According to a statewide civic and economic development organization, Louisiana’s job growth for the third quarter was the second highest in the nation. Leaders for a Better Louisiana CEO Adam Knapp says Louisiana employers added 36,ooo jobs over the year ending in September, as the state reached 2.02 million non-farm jobs.
“An all-time high for number of jobs we looked at in Louisiana; 2.02 million is a new record-high for overall jobs in Louisiana. So, growing fast, and also kind of in a record territory as a state,” Knapp said.
Louisiana has held above the 2 million jobs mark for eight consecutive months. Knapp says construction drove the expansion, as 18,000 construction jobs were added over the last year, more than double the rate of the next fastest southern state, North Carolina.
The increase coincides with the build-out of liquefied natural gas export terminals along the coast and Meta’s data center in Richland Parish.
Knapp says they also saw solid employment gains in other sectors.
“Health care continues to be a sector of overall growth. Professional business services has been one that has been in strong positive territory,” Knapp noted.
Knapp says their latest economic update also finds the state leading the South in manufacturing job growth.
“The manufacturing sector, which grew at 2% over the last 12 months ending September, added almost 3,000 jobs in Louisiana alone. That was the fastest growth in the South for manufacturing jobs,” Knapp explained.
The average earnings per job in 2025 for manufacturing was $118,000; and for construction, it was $97,000.
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