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The New Orleans Index: Tracking the recovery of New Orleans and the metro area
News Release
Facts for Features on the Fourth Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
Allison Plyer, Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
ShareNEW ORLEANS – August 27‚ 2009 – Four years after Hurricane Katrina, what does the very latest data say about how the city and region are doing?
- August 2009 population data released this week indicates that New Orleans continues to grow. The population of the city reached 77.1 percent of pre–Katrina residences receiving mail as of August 2009, and the metro area surpassed 90 percent for the first time–reaching 90.1 of pre–Katrina.
- Unemployment figures released yesterday reveal that metro area unemployment surged from 5.9 percent in May to 7.4 percent in July 2009. The recent surge in unemployment is due to a large increase in the number of people seeking work in the New Orleans area. From May to July, the labor force increased by nearly 9,500 workers–including over 1,000 employed workers and almost 8,500 unemployed. The increase in job seekers mirrors a jump in population growth in the last six months. Nonetheless, jobs are not keeping pace with jobs seekers and unemployment is now the highest it has been since 2005.
- Non–farm jobs data released yesterday indicate that as of July 2009 the metro area has 85,000 fewer jobs than in July 2005 (a 14 percent decline). The largest number of jobs was lost from those sectors that were the largest pre–Katrina, namely government (down 19,100), leisure and hospitality (down 17,500) and trade, transportation and utilities (down 14,000).
- New data reveals that the number of blighted residences in New Orleans fell by more than 3,000 in only three months. From March to June, there were 3,960 fewer no–stat residential addresses, and 629 more vacant, bringing the total number of unoccupied residences to 62,557. A growing number of these are vacant (7,712), indicating that they are likely habitable but have not been rented or purchased. The remainder, some 55,000 residential addresses, are blighted or empty lots.
- Rents are falling for the first time since Katrina as the supply of housing grew in the last year. Average rent for a 2–bedroom apartment in the metro area is $949, down from $990 in 2008. Nonetheless, rents remain 40 percent higher than pre–Katrina and out of reach for many essential workers.
Be sure to cite the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center: your source for the most up–to–date, reliable data.
For further analysis and recommendations from the Brookings Institution and GNOCDC, see The New Orleans Index, special 4th anniversary edition.
Sources: USPS Delivery Statistics Product, Louisiana Workforce Commission, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, GNO Community Data Center analysis of HUD Aggregated USPS Administrative Data on Address Vacancies, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
About the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center gathers‚ analyzes and disseminates data to help nonprofit and civic leaders work smarter and more strategically. Operating since 1997‚ the GNOCDC is New Orleans’ sustainable data source – before the storm‚ throughout recovery and in the years to come.
