Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Louisiana is returning to Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 economic restrictions. In addition to ordering many bars across the state to close and sending most businesses back to 50 percent occupancy through the end of the year, Gov. Edwards also limited gatherings to 75 indoors and 150 outdoors. Additionally,...

While most Americans were following the latest twists and turns in the election last week, some excellent economic news flew under the radar. On the state front, the number of Louisianans filing for unemployment continued its swift decline, with just over 7,700 individuals filing the week ending October 31. This is still about four times...

Current methods for collecting economic data causes a disconnect between what people are actually feeling in their lives and the numbers being released to the public. That’s why prior to this week, we knew that COVID-19 and subsequent shutdowns have made large impacts on the American economy, but we didn’t know the full scope of...

Due to the damage caused by COVID-19 and government shutdowns, it’s been clear that no state was going to experience any economic growth through the first half of the year. Instead, the major question has revolved around which states’ economies would be hit the hardest. Well the first quarter results are in, and the numbers...

As Louisiana and the nation continues to reopen, some good economic news is starting to trickle in. The best and most surprising news was the April Jobs report, which showed the nation gained 2.5 million jobs during the month. With some economists predicting losses of up to 7.5 million, a jobs gain was a big...

As Louisiana begins moving into Phase 2 of reopening from the COVID-19 shutdown, there are faint glimmers of good economic news on the horizon. The number of initial unemployment claims for the last week of May were under 20,000 for the first time since March 21. This marks the sixth consecutive week of declines in...

Soon after the Louisiana legislature was gaveled back into session, a tense debate began over whether the state should open on a statewide or regional basis. And while valid points are being offered on both sides of this issue, no one can deny the seriousness of the economic crisis we’re facing due to the closure...

While Gov. John Bel Edwards unexpectedly postponed the phased reopening of Louisiana’s economy to May 15, the most recently released economic data shows precisely why we need to Get Louisiana Working as soon as possible. Another 66,000 Louisianans filed unemployment claims for the week ending April 25 . While this was less than the week...

As economic news continues to focus on the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) recently released report further underscored Louisiana’s pre-coronavirus economic struggles. In the final quarter of 2019, the BEA report on state Gross Domestic Products (GDP) showed the Louisiana economy grew an anemic 1.1 percent, ranking 43rd in...

With a record 6.6 million Americans applying for unemployment over the last month, doubling the previous record from two weeks ago, economists were dreading the latest national report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national report is now out and found that total nonfarm employment decreased by an astounding 701,000 nonfarm workers, the largest...