When Louisiana Governor Bobby jidal touts the states job market and new Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin sells his city as one of the best places to ride out the recession, it is not just routine boosterish. In the midst of a severe nationwide downturn, the Louisiana economy is holding up better that most. It is a role reversal from a few years ago, when Louisiana was one of the countrys weaker states financially following the desctructions caused by Hurricane Katrina. The state has the tenth lowest unemployment rate and was the only state to add nonfarm jobs in February, the most recent month for which data are available. Sales tax collections in New Orleans have risen close to levels seen before Katrina. And foreclosure rates have remained low by national standards, in part because the state never experienced a housing bubble. Whats unclear is how long the state can keep the downturns worst demoms at bay. March state-bay state employment data, which the Labor Departement releases Friday, will offer fresh insights. The msjor reconstruction efoort that continues more than three and a half years after Katrina partly explains why Louisiana state has been fairly insulated from the worst of the recession. The authors purpose in the passage is to …..​