BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's job market has hit a record high, with payrolls topping two million employees for the first time, according to Leaders for a Better Louisiana.

The organization says the state added 16,700 jobs over the past year, ranking fourth in the South, with much of the growth coming from construction.

In the second quarter, Louisiana hit a record with more than two million non-farm jobs. The Greater Baton Rouge area leads other metro areas, such as Lake Charles and Monroe, in job growth, driven in part by construction.

More than 16,000 jobs were added in the Baton Rouge area over the past year, with 9,300 of those in construction.

"The state has been so far behind on economic development activity that it is a very high and bipartisan priority for state lawmakers to do more around economic development," said Adam Knapp with Leaders for a Better Louisiana.

Knapp attributes much of that job growth to the construction industry. "The amount of construction in Louisiana that's happening on big projects is all over the state," Knapp said.

The growing industry follows a surge of large industrial projects coming to Louisiana, including the Richland Parish Meta data center and the Ascension Parish Hyundai steel mill.

"The state had a record number of economic announcements last year, and all of those look like they're flowing from announcement into actual hiring of construction workers," said Knapp. "It's not just along the I-10 corridor, it's across the state."

Christian McMillin, who manages a remodel and restoration company, has seen the effects firsthand.

"Our growth and profits have increased dramatically over the past couple of years from residential, commercial, and remodeling," McMillin said.

Knapp says if small businesses like McMillin's grow, that will prove whether the larger projects paid off.

The report also shows that weekly unemployment claims fell by 32 percent over the past year.