La. Sees Relatively Strong Personal Income Growth During 2nd Q.

At a 5.9% increase, Louisiana has seen a relatively strong growth in personal income in the second quarter of 2018, ranking second in the nation only to Texas at 6%. The construction sector was responsible for most of the growth. LSU economist Dr. Loren Scott says of the components of the increases, it's one of the two things really stick out.

"Our construction side is still doing very very well.  It's poised to do a lot better.   And then secondly, the nondurable goods manufacturing sector, our contribution was like four times larger than what it was at the national level," says Scott.

Scott says the oil industry seeing an uptick is also a contributing factor.

"Our contribution to personal income was about three times larger than the national average.  You're finally starting to see indications that the oil patch is starting to come back a little bit," says Scott.

Scott says while the healthcare sector is seeing growth, it’s following a national trend.

"The healthcare sector is basically booming all across the United States and the primary reason for that is the baby boomers are aging now, so the demand for healthcare services is going to continue to go up," says Scott.