MANDEVILLE, La. — St. Tammany Corporation has released the latest edition of its Economic Snapshot report covering Summer 2022 (June through September). The quarterly report is a curated collection of data that illustrates COVID-19’s lasting impact on the parish and economy. Unemployment, gas prices and other economic indicators are highlighted to make sense of trends in regional and national economies and their interconnectivity with the parish.
Key takeaways from the report:
- The pandemic initiated a dramatic shift toward remote and hybrid working environments. After the height of pandemic shutdowns in 2020, there was a significant increase in remote workers; however, the rate of remote workers is seeing stabilization at rates much higher than pre-pandemic levels. In fact, many analysts predict that the rate of remote workers will remain much higher than pre-pandemic levels. More than 40% of St. Tammany’s workforce are remote workers, the largest percentage of remote workers in the state.
- According to calculations based upon the CDC’s Community Risk Level Framework, St. Tammany’s COVID-19 risk level is currently high. This level is determined based on metrics including weekly new cases, weekly new hospitalizations, and percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID patients.
- Gas prices have consistently declined for 12 consecutive weeks, the longest consecutive decline in price-per-gallon that fuel prices have seen since 2018. Louisiana is one of the 10 states reporting the lowest gas prices in the country. However, St. Tammany Parish is one of the 12 parishes in the state with the highest prices at the pump.
