BATON ROUGE – The Baton Rouge Area Chamber announced today that the regional economy ranked second out of 310 U.S. metro areas for year-to-year total employment job growth, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

From May 2008 to May 2009, the Baton Rouge area gained 1,300 jobs, primarily in the goods-producing sector. 

The BLS ranked the area 11th in the nation for percentage increase in jobs. 

The region's unemployment rate in May was 6 percent, a 0.3 percentage point increase from April, yet still below the national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent.
 
“The May 2009 metro economy rankings are strong for the Baton Rouge region, and perhaps most impressive because these jobs have been produced primarily in higher-wage, goods-producing sectors,” said Adam Knapp, President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. 

“Coupled with recent manufacturing investments such as SNF Holding in Iberville and PanAmerican Capital’s wood products investment in West Feliciana, the region continues to see new economic growth.”

The Baton Rouge area's unemployment percentage was ranked as the 20th lowest among U.S. metros.