BATON ROUGE, La. — Today, Louisiana Economic Development released a report detailing selected economic highlights for calendar year 2009.

LED Secretary Stephen Moret issued the following statement on Louisiana’s economic performance in 2009:

“Continuing a trend that began early last year, Louisiana’s economy in 2009 once again outperformed the South and the nation. Unemployment rates remained well below that of the South and U.S., and employment held relatively stable, down about one percent since January 2008 versus about five percent for the South and U.S. overall.

“Despite the national recession, our business development results for 2009 were even better than in 2008, which itself was an award-winning year. Dozens of companies announced significant expansions or relocations in 2009, kicking off projects that will result in more than 21,000 new jobs, $2.5 billion in new capital investment, $53 million per year in new state tax revenues and billions of dollars in new sales for small businesses.

“These projects include several in exciting new growth industries, such as advanced manufacturing (V-Vehicle Co.), digital media (Pixel Magic) and pharmaceutical manufacturing (Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories), as well as traditional industries, such as petrochemicals and oilfield services.

“Our recent corporate headquarters successes continued, with several expansions, as well as new additions to the Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 lists. CenturyLink will soon join Entergy and The Shaw Group on the list of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Louisiana. And Louisiana’s list of Fortune 1000 headquarters recently grew by two: Albemarle Corp. completed the move of its corporate headquarters from Virginia to Louisiana; while, Superior Energy Services joined the Fortune 1000 list just this year. Pool Corp. continues as a Louisiana-based Fortune 1000 company.

“Louisiana and its cities improved their position in numerous national rankings while Gov. Jindal and the Legislature implemented significant policy changes to position Louisiana for a brighter economic future.

“Although the nation awaits a significant jobs recovery, Louisiana is well-positioned to secure new business investment in 2010 and will experience significant job growth from projects announced in 2008 and 2009. In the year ahead, business retention efforts will remain our top priority at LED, while we also will expand our focus on cultivating new growth industries.”

To read LED’s Selected Economic Highlights for 2009 report, click here.