BATON ROUGE — The Baton Rouge area started 2026 with a record-breaking number of both overall and new jobs, as well as rising wages and a construction boom, the newest report from the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership released Thursday says. 

The report says that the Capital region reached an all-time high of 438,200 nonfarm jobs in April 2026, which leads all its peer metro areas in annual job growth. The report attributes the rise in construction jobs in particular to projects like the Hyundai Steel Mill, CF Industries’ ammonia facility, Linde’s Air Separation Unit, and the I-10 widening project.

Since last year, there have been 6,800 new jobs added to the market, helping to surpass pre-pandemic employment levels by more than 26,000 jobs.

Construction is particularly on the rise, with 6,500 new jobs.

Baton Rouge is also now ranked first among Louisiana metros in weekly earnings, with workers earning an average of $1,254.86 per week. 

Unemployment claims also fell 42.7% over the past year, the report adds.

The full report can be read here.