The following is a pretty stark visualization of unemployment rates in Louisiana compared to the rest of the United States (a nifty tool provided by the folks at Google).
Before Katrina (that big spike there in 2005), Louisiana's unemployment consistently hovered above the national average. But after the storm, unemployment dipped below and stayed below the national average. This is probably due to a number of factors including population migration and oil and gas exploration, but one of the biggest contributors to employment was construction jobs in the rebuilding effort.
At the end of 2009, construction jobs made up about 7% of the total workforce in Louisiana, compared to 4.5% in the nation as a whole.
Signs of pain have already crept into the local construction sector. Between December 2008 and December 2009, construction companies in Louisiana shed 4,900 workers, accounting for 10.4% of total job losses in the state. As recovery efforts slow, even more construction jobs could disappear, but it doesn't have to be this way.
One area ripe for construction labor is storm resilience. Sometimes referred to as "non-structural mitigation", we at Restoration and Resilience prefer resilience as a catch-all for preventative measures that will help communities bounce back faster from hurricanes or floods.
Storm resilience involves elevating homes, flood-proofing commercial buildings, hardening critical facilities (fire stations, schools, hospitals) etc. – all work that can be done by most general contractors with little to no extra training.
This type of work is already creating jobs in other coastal states. By one estimate in Florida, resilience work created 160 construction jobs for every 50 to 75 houses that were installed through mitigation projects.
A robust program of restoration and resilience work in Louisiana can keep construction jobs and create a safer Louisiana.