Katrina +5: Jobs Lag and the Road Home Remains Uncertain
If jobs and housing are the barometers by which recoveries are judged, five years after the storm, New Orleans is getting mixed reviews. The job market was initially brisk due to the inevitable uptick in construction and service trade jobs, which were accompanied by higher hourly wages. In many ways, observes Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee, Louisiana was for a long time sheltered from the economic downturn going on just about everywhere else, because it was still in recovery mode.
