Baton Rouge Adds More Jobs, Shaw Group Gets Homeland Security Contact

Big news in the Baton Rouge economy today.

Today the employment numbers were released for the state. Overall, the state lost 8,000 jobs, 6,700 of those non-farm. The state’s unemployment rate went up from 5.8% to 6.2%, and up from 4.1% a year ago. Baton Rouge, however, added 800 jobs over 2008, thought we lost 2,100 in March over 2008. Of course, this isn’t much of a surprise. Earlier this month, we reported the loss of jobs by several major firms in Baton Rouge. Now, it’s clear that the national recession is finally catching up to Louisiana. It’s good to see our local economy still faring well. Forbes noted Baton Rouge’s propensity for job density last week when it honored Baton Rouge with a place in the top college towns in America.

In other news, Shaw Group, Baton Rouge’s Fortune 500 company, announced a major five-year, $375 million contract with the US Department of Homeland Security. The contract is for emergency services, including housing, construction and engineering services, mass care and planning, staffing and logistics, for FEMA during disasters in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.