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American Press
23-04-2025
- Business
- American Press
Louisiana reaches post-pandemic jobs milestone, but economic gaps remain
(Special to the American Press) By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square Louisiana has finally regained all the jobs it lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Leaders for a Better Louisiana. The group's First Quarter 2025 Economic Dashboard presents a mixed picture. While the state has turned a corner on pandemic-era job losses and reversed a years-long population decline, it still trails much of the South in long-term economic performance. 'This is a milestone for economic recovery — but also a call to action,' said Adam Knapp, CEO of the nonprofit Leaders for a Better Louisiana. 'We're no longer losing ground, but we've got a long way to go.' According to the report, Louisiana's job base grew by 1.1% over the past year and more than 2% over the last two years. Eight of the state's 10 metro regions saw job gains, with Lafayette and New Orleans leading the pack. Baton Rouge added 0.8% more jobs over the last year, while Shreveport saw a 1.1% increase and Lake Charles grew by 0.7%. The rebound comes as Louisiana's population grew in 2024, reversing several years of outmigration. Still, the state continues to lag behind its southern neighbors on several metrics. Since 2018, Louisiana is the only southern state to have experienced a net job loss — down 1% over that period. Other southern states have surged ahead in both job creation and the rate of new business formation. The state's wage growth has also been modest compared to its peers. Average weekly wages rose 19% over the past four years, hitting $1,156 in the third quarter of 2024. But that increase is just shy of the 20% average across the South. Sector-by-sector, the report shows uneven growth. Health care and private education added the most jobs—up 11,800 over the past year—followed by government (plus-7,000), construction (plus-3,900), and professional and business services (plus-2,700). Trade, transportation, and utilities added 2,400 jobs. But the leisure and hospitality sector shed 5,200 jobs, financial activities dropped by 2,900, and manufacturing lost 1,200 positions. Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction have taken a bigger hit, with employment down 16% since 2018. Construction jobs have fallen 10% over that period, even as manufacturing jobs inched up 4%.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Flexential to Support DigitalOcean's GPU Infrastructure Expansion with High-Density Deployment
Atlanta-area facility to host phased deployment to accommodate growing AI/ML workloads CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexential, a leading provider of secure and flexible data center solutions, has reached an agreement with DigitalOcean, the simplest scalable cloud for growing tech companies, for a high-density deployment at Flexential's Atlanta-Douglasville data center. The agreement includes a phased deployment approach at Flexential's Atlanta-Douglasville 1 data center, which will enable additional DigitalOcean GPU Droplets, including GPU Droplets across two connected data halls powered by NVIDIA's H200 GPUs and AMD Instinct GPU accelerators. This deployment will significantly increase DigitalOcean's capacity to provide customers scalable computing power on demand, ideal for AI/ML training and inference, deep learning, high-performance computing (HPC), data analytics, and graphics/video rendering tasks. "Flexential's Douglasville facility addresses our need to bolster GPU infrastructure quickly as our AI/ML business continues to grow," said Adam Knapp, Vice President, Engineering at DigitalOcean. "This expansion extends our footprint to support the specific power and cooling requirements of high-density GPU environments and positions us to meet our customers' expanding AI computing needs." The location meets DigitalOcean's specifications for power density, service-level agreements (SLAs), and commissioning timelines, and the deployment will strengthen DigitalOcean's Eastern U.S. presence. It includes round-the-clock security, dual-factor authentication access, biometric scanners, and monitored security cameras. "Through this partnership with DigitalOcean, Flexential's Atlanta-Douglasville data center plays a pivotal role in delivering high-density computing environments that meet the precise requirements of AI-focused cloud providers," said Patrick Doherty, Chief Revenue Officer at Flexential. "Through our FlexAnywhere® platform that enables seamless connectivity and scalability across our national network, this deployment provides the infrastructure foundation for DigitalOcean to scale its GPU Droplets offering, and continue to support developers and businesses building next-generation AI applications." Visit the Flexential website for more information on Flexential's high-performance compute capabilities and our comprehensive suite of tailored infrastructure and customized IT solutions. About Flexential Flexential empowers the IT journey of the most complex businesses by offering customizable IT solutions designed for today's demanding high-density computing requirements. With colocation, cloud, connectivity, data protection, and professional services, the FlexAnywhere® platform anchors our services in 42 data centers across 19 highly connected markets on a scalable 100Gbps+ private network backbone. Flexential solutions are strategically engineered to meet the most stringent challenges in security, compliance, and resiliency. Experience the power of IT flexibility and how we enable digital transformation at About DigitalOcean DigitalOcean is the simplest scalable cloud platform that democratizes cloud and AI for growing tech companies around the world. Our mission is to simplify cloud computing and AI to allow builders to spend more time creating software that changes the world. More than 600,000 customers trust DigitalOcean to deliver the cloud, AI, and ML infrastructure they need to build and scale their organizations. To learn more about DigitalOcean, visit Media Contact Alison Brooker Corporate Marketing Christian RizzoGregory FCA for Flexentialchristian@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Flexential Sign in to access your portfolio
