Dear friends and colleagues,

New data on households actively receiving mail shows that we're ending the year with a bang -- or rather a population boom.

 

Check out the news release below that we sent to the media today to spread the good news. And if you want more details, go to our web site at www.gnocdc.org

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2009!

The  Data Center Team

(Joy Bonaguro, Charlotte Cunliffe, Elaine Ortiz, Allison Plyer, Denice Ross, and Melissa Schigoda)

 

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New Orleans population growth picks up steam in the second half of 2008 - reaching nearly 74 percent of pre-Katrina levels by December 2008.  At year's end the metro area has more than 88 percent of the pre-Katrina number of households receiving mail.

Contact:

Allison Plyer, Deputy Director

Greater New Orleans Community Data Center

allisonp@gnocdc.org

 

New Orleans, LA. (Dec. 31, 2008) - In December 2008, the population of New Orleans reached 73.7 percent of pre-Katrina levels as indicated by the number of households actively receiving mail.

 

Although growth slowed significantly in the first half of the year-- only 2,446 households were added through May followed by a loss of 571 households in June and July-- New Orleans gained 3,873 households in the last five months of 2008.

 

"Nearly three years after Katrina we expected that population growth would slow.  And even the losses over the summer were not a surprise as many college students leave during those months.  What is surprising is this resurgence in the last half of the year.  Clearly our strong local economy is drawing workers here as unemployment and foreclosures are spiking in cities like Atlanta and Miami," said Allison Plyer, Deputy Director of the Data Center.

 

Meanwhile, the metro area reached 88.1 percent of the number of pre-Katrina households by December 2008.  Orleans Parish accounted for most of this growth gaining a total of 5,748 households throughout 2008.  St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes also saw an increase in growth in the latter half of 2008.  They gained 1,688 and 1,661 households respectively across the course of this year. By the end of 2008, St. Bernard had reached 48.7 percent and St. Tammany had reached 106.5 percent of the pre-Katrina number of households.  St. Charles Parish gained 224 households this year, while St. John the Baptist gained 130, Plaquemines lost 829, and Jefferson lost 960 households in 2008.

 

Percent of Pre-Katrina Households Actively Receiving MailPercent of Pre-Katrina Households Actively Receiving Mail

 

[In July 2005, the Census population estimates for each of these parishes were: Orleans: 453,726; Jefferson: 449,640; Plaquemines: 28,588; St. Bernard: 64,683; St. Charles: 50,164; St. John: 45,602; St. Tammany: 217,551]

 

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The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center at www.gnocdc.org is a product of Nonprofit Knowledge Works and is supported in part by Baptist Community Ministries, United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, and the Blue Moon Fund. Numbers Talk is an electronic newsletter announcing new resources on information use for the New Orleans area.