• While overall employment in the State of Louisiana increased 4.14% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 14.84%, creating 15,993 new construction jobs as well as creating 174 new construction establishments in 5 years.

• While the average worker in Louisiana brought home $28,423 in pay in 2002, the state’s construction workers made on average $32,389, an increase of 12.24% more than the average worker in Louisiana. 

• Construction workers in Louisiana saw a salary increase of 15.08% from 1997-2002, compared to the average salary increase construction workers across the United States, which increased by 14.97%. 

• The number of businesses in Louisiana dropped from 78,477 in 1997 to 78,454 in 2002, a decrease of -0.03%.  Construction establishments in Louisiana however, increased by 2.23% from 7,812 in 1997 to 7,986 in 2002.

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 7.4 percent of Louisiana’s private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 93 out of 100 Louisiana’s private construction workers do not belong to a labor union.

Data are from the U.S. Bureau of the Census except where noted.

• Louisiana does not have a state prevailing wage law.