Limping to the Line

The Advocate reports over 2,500 people lost jobs here in Louisiana during the month of April. This is bad enough--the cloud associated with this lead lining is that these numbers include only those affected by large-scale layoffs, i.e., a business pink-slipping more than fifty people. In other words, my sister, who is now freelancing because she was laid off last month, doesn't show up in the stats.

Meanwhile, in Baton Rouge, the price of gasoline is between $1.84 and $1.94 for a gallon of regular. With crude ranging from $40-$42 dollars a barrel, depending on delivery date, I think $2 a gallon is reasonable to expect, especially as we get ready for the introduction of reformulated gasoline (although the city is pulling out all the stops in an attempt to avoid this).

I think I'm beginning to see why Kerry thinks Louisiana could be in play come November.