First, like elsewhere in the economy, many of its sectors were shut down or at significantly reduced operations due to the shelter-in-place orders mandated by the governor. Secondly, job losses were magnified in the MSA by the fact that this is a large gaming market with over 4,800 employees.

The good news is that after about eight years of losses, we see the Shreveport-Bossier MSA on an expansion path over the next two years. The not-so-great news is we see this trend being modest at best. We are projecting the Shreveport-Bossier MSA will add about 300 jobs a year over 2020-21, a growth rate of about 0.