Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Shreveport-Bossier City, LA MSA — October 2026
Construction carries Shreveport-Bossier while government payrolls shrink.
Construction employment rose 12.4% year-over-year to 10,000 jobs in Shreveport-Bossier even as government payrolls fell 3% to 26,000, a split that will shape how commerce leaders read the metro's 0.3% overall job growth.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Construction employment growth: +12.4% YoY — 10,000 jobs, metro's strongest sector
- Government employment: -3% YoY — Fell to 26,000 jobs amid pay debate
- Metro overall nonfarm employment: 171,700 jobs — Up 0.3% YoY, below LA's 1.8% state rate
- Louisiana statewide job growth: +300 jobs (Sept.) — 21st among states; cooling vs. 2,900/mo. 5-yr avg
Key takeaways
Construction is carrying Shreveport-Bossier's job growth.
Construction employment rose 12.4% year-over-year to 10,000 jobs, more than half of the metro's net sectoral momentum, consistent with the statewide pattern where construction accounted for 52% of Louisiana's annual job gain. A single sector carrying this much of the growth story leaves the metro's trajectory more exposed to construction-cycle swings than the headline 0.3% overall job growth suggests.
Government employment contraction coincides with a pay debate.
Government payrolls fell 3% to 26,000 even as the city advances a 3% raise for about 1,000 employees, moved up from March 2027 after council concerns over uneven timing between public-safety and other staff. Economists and press should read this as a public-sector stability story: headcount is shrinking while compensation commitments grow.
Leisure and hospitality softness tracks a national retail pattern.
Metro leisure and hospitality employment declined 2.9% year-over-year, aligning with national flatness in retail trade and Louisiana's own reported retail job losses in Baton Rouge and statewide. Commerce leaders monitoring consumer-facing sector health should treat this as part of a regional pattern affecting the broader market, not confined to this metro.
Wage growth here is outrunning the state average.
Shreveport average weekly earnings reached $997.58 in September, with hourly earnings at $28.26 — figures that, set against Louisiana's $1,154 average weekly wage (statewide, August), show the metro converging from a lower base. Combined with national wage growth (4.1% year-over-year) running ahead of the metro's pace, this is a wage-versus-inflation dynamic worth tracking for local purchasing-power implications.
Median advertised pay by role — Shreveport-Bossier City, LA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $20,800 | $25,554 | $28,600 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $20,800 | $23,266 | $25,129 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $28,571 | $35,055 | $36,400 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,011 | $79,976 | $90,000 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $25,493 | $30,685 | $37,440 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $31,200 | $36,143 | $37,440 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $54,080 | $70,000 | $75,920 | Significant increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $29,399 | $40,217 | $44,720 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $29,120 | $33,308 | $35,672 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $23,521 | $24,637 | $30,160 | Significant decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $29,120 | $32,760 | $37,343 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $30,347 | $37,440 | $39,520 | Moderate decline | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $47,840 | $58,240 | $75,407 | Significant increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $75,390 | $91,870 | $99,702 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $90,725 | $124,769 | $135,388 | Significant decline | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $81,595 | $89,455 | $101,182 | Significant decline | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $58,043 | $73,953 | $73,953 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $65,614 | $76,220 | $82,500 | Significant increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $54,379 | $62,447 | $96,148 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $43,361 | $56,859 | $70,057 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $59,817 | $88,000 | $92,750 | Moderate decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $44,254 | $47,576 | $49,896 | Stable | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $58,091 | $79,612 | $90,000 | Moderate increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $45,000 | $45,000 | $59,133 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $72,636 | $91,070 | $99,976 | Significant increase | $98,302 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Industry snapshot
| Sector | Median advertised pay | Pay trend | Postings trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | $63,060 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $63,428 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,195 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $59,374 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $50,190 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $51,282 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $52,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $61,860 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $28,046 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $63,645 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Shreveport-Bossier nonfarm employment reached 171,700 jobs in September, with construction up 12.4% year-over-year to 10,000 jobs and education and health services up 3% to 34,300 — gains concentrated in sectors tied to institutional and infrastructure investment, with consumer-facing sectors lagging behind. Government employment fell 3% to 26,000 and leisure and hospitality declined 2.9% to 20,000, a divergence that mirrors statewide softness in retail and offsets the metro's otherwise above-national job growth story.
What it means
Construction and healthcare strength signals the metro's near-term economic momentum rests on institutional and infrastructure-linked activity, a useful reference point for commerce leaders weighing timing on local investment or expansion decisions. Government payroll contraction alongside the city of Shreveport's proposed 3% raise for roughly 1,000 municipal employees suggests public-sector compensation pressure is building even as headcount softens, a signal worth tracking for anyone assessing public-sector service stability. Current conditions suggest commerce leaders evaluate expansion or site-location timing against sector-specific momentum, since the metro's aggregate job count blends diverging trends.
Looking ahead
Expected: October metro employment and unemployment figures from BLS are due in early-to-mid December given the standard 4-6 week lag; watch whether construction's 12.4% annual growth rate holds or decelerates, since it anchors the metro's current job-growth narrative.
Potential inflection point: Shreveport's accelerated 3% municipal pay raise timeline, now under council discussion, will clarify how the city balances public-safety versus general-employee compensation amid a 3% annual decline in government headcount — a test case for public-sector budget pressure relevant to other parish and city budgets in the metro.
Worth watching: Louisiana's September slowdown to 300 net jobs statewide (21st among states, well below the five-year average of ~2,900/month) raises the question of whether Shreveport-Bossier's above-trend sector gains (construction, healthcare) can offset a cooling state backdrop in the fourth quarter.
Emerging pressure point: National information-sector job losses (-10,000 in September) and flat professional/business services nationally have not yet shown up distinctly in Shreveport metro data; commerce leaders and economists should watch whether local professional-services job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), begin reflecting this national softness.
Sources
- BIZ Magazine / Bureau of Labor Statistics — Shreveport MSA nonfarm employment at 171,700 jobs; sector-level gains and declines
- The Center Square — City of Shreveport considering accelerated 3% raise for ~1,000 employees
- Louisiana Works — Construction accounted for 52% of Louisiana's annual job gain
- Bureau of Labor Statistics via USAFacts — Louisiana average weekly wage $1,154, up 5.5% year-over-year
- Louisiana Works / BLS — Louisiana added only 300 jobs statewide in September, ranking 21st nationally
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National information sector lost 10,000 jobs in September
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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