The elephant in the room is how much longer this damn pandemic will last and who will be left standing when it finally ends. But that’s not the only aspect of our local economy with an uncertain fate.
Economy
Lafayette residents have lost more income than they did in the 1980s
You often hear that as bad as the economy is now, at least it’s not as bad as the 1980s. But in terms of impact on personal income, new data shows that it’s actually worse.
6 min read
COLUMN: Cutting quality of life services will backfire, hurting Lafayette’s economy for years to come
In order to be economically competitive as a city, Lafayette needs to offer quality of life amenities. In the rush to cut budgets, Mayor-President Guillory is putting the city’s quality of life at risk, reducing its ability to retain and attract people, especially young families.
10 min read
Column: Lafayette’s economy needs a mask mandate now
Lafayette’s economy can’t get healthy if its people aren’t healthy. The only way to slow the spread of this coronavirus is to get 80-90% of people to wear masks or to shut the everything back down again. Faced with those options, Lafayette needs to do everything in its power to get people to wear masks, not just to save lives but to save our economy.
6 min read
COLUMN: It’s time for Lafayette to take its housing crisis seriously
Lafayette is facing a severe housing crisis, with thousands of people at risk of losing their homes. This crisis started before the pandemic, but the coronavirus and its impact on our economy has just added fuel to a fire that’s now threatening to rage through our community.
6 min read
Retail sales fall $112 million in Lafayette
The gist: April sales numbers released by LEDA highlight the economic fallout from the state’s coronavirus lockdown. Total retail sales in the parish in March and April fell $112 million in 2020 when compared to the same months in 2019.
3 min read
Lafayette metro projected to lead state in job losses
The gist: A new economic forecast projects that the Lafayette metro area will lead the state in jobs lost from the first quarter of this year to the second. Modeling by economist Gary Wagner of UL Lafayette’s B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration shows the area recovering less than 10% of those jobs over the next 18 months.
4 min read
Lafayette job market among the nation’s most at risk
Projections by the St Louis Federal Reserve Bank rank the Lafayette metro area as having the 20th highest percentage of jobs at high risk of unemployment due to the coronavirus out of the 150 largest metro areas in the country.
2 min read
Coronavirus stimulus not enough to save Lafayette’s oil and gas industry
Lafayette’s oil and gas industry is facing existential challenges that far outstrip the short-term subsidies being offered by the federal government’s coronavirus stimulus package.
5 min read
Worst-case scenario projections show Lafayette metro area losing 60,000 jobs during pandemic
Projections from local and national analysts warn that unemployment could hit 30% or more in the coming months due to the coronavirus. Lafayette is especially vulnerable because of the fall of oil and gas. Tens of thousands could be out of work by summertime.
5 min read
How you can help Lafayette’s economy
The challenges facing Lafayette’s economy may seem overwhelming but you can help right the ship by spending money or making it, and that means more than just shopping local.
6 min read
Oil falls, coronavirus arrives, economic turmoil for Lafayette ahead
On Monday, the price of oil had its greatest one-day plunge ever, and coronavirus officially arrived in Louisiana. These developments pose threats the Lafayette economy is particularly vulnerable to.
5 min read