It's not all bad, but a new study by the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress Action Fund underscores the widespread perception that Louisiana is a lagging, flagging banana republic.
It's not all bad, but a new study by the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress Action Fund underscores the widespread perception that Louisiana is a lagging, flagging banana republic.
The study finds the Bayou State last among the 50 states in the earnings gap between men and women and second to last in the union for the percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds with a college degree. Other troubling findings include the 39th highest percentage of persons over 18 with no savings or checking account; the 45th highest poverty rate; and a substantially higher teen pregnancy rate than the national average.
However, the study also finds Louisiana with the 13th lowest unemployment rate in the nation - 6.9 percent - which is the third lowest in the South, and the 14th best overall ranking for jobs based on unemployment data.
The Times-Picayune has more on the study here.
The conservative Pelican Institute in New Orleans, meanwhile, has a different take on the gender gap in earnings. Read it here.