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Baton Rouge, La.

Share of jobs in strong industries: 40.5%
Number of workers: 103,320
Metro area unemployment rate: 5%
Agriculture jobs: 0.63%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical jobs (legal, accounting etc.): 7.30%
Education jobs: 13.83%
Health-care jobs: 11.31%
Public Administration (Government) jobs: 7.44%

Baton Rouge, the state capital and home to Louisiana State University and Southern University at Baton Rouge, is thriving. Firms are rushing to use special financing for post-Katrina hurricane recovery work. About $6.5 billion in construction activity is underway (compared with about $750 million in a typical year), including a new refinery, chemical plant, and road projects. And like many Louisiana cities, it isn't dependent on the weak durable goods sector. LSU economics professor Loren C. Scott projects the city will see an increase of 2,400 jobs next year or about .06% of the workforce.