New Orleans to top US wage growth in 2006: study 17 minutes ago

[Judi Lynn]

New Orleans to top US wage growth in 2006: study 17 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wage growth in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is expected to far outstrip other U.S. metropolitan areas in 2006 due to a massive increase in construction jobs, according a study released on Friday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The study, conducted by economic consulting group Global Insight Inc., forecast that wages in the New Orleans area would rise 4.3 percent or $1,472 over 2005. It said wages in Baton Rouge, the state capital swelled by Gulf Coast hurricane evacuees, also will rise 4.3 percent, or about $1,396.
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Reconstruction has changed the whole face of the New Orleans economy, said James Diffley, a managing director at Global Insight.

"What's not there are a lot of low-level service sector jobs that fed the tourism industry. And they have been replaced by higher paid construction jobs, but these aren't the same people doing them," he said.
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