Louisiana added 36,000 payroll jobs over the past year, with construction accounting for more than half of the increase, according to preliminary figures Louisiana Works released Tuesday.

The state’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment reached 2,024,200 in September, which the agency identified as a record high. Employers added 300 jobs from August, including 200 in the private sector.

Construction added 18,800 jobs compared with September 2025, accounting for about 52% of the state’s net annual increase. Professional and business services added 8,000 jobs, while private education and health services gained 7,200.

Private employers accounted for 35,700 of the state’s 36,000 net new payroll jobs over the year. Private-sector employment reached 1,698,200, also a record high, according to Louisiana Works.

The figures show where employers are expanding, but the release does not identify which construction projects or types of construction contributed to the sector’s gains. It also does not specify how many of those positions will remain after projects are completed.

September’s monthly gains included 700 jobs each in professional and business services and leisure and hospitality, along with 600 in construction. Professional and business services employment reached 228,000, which the agency also described as a record.

Those three sectors collectively added 2,000 jobs during the month. The smaller statewide net increase of 300 means losses elsewhere offset much of that hiring, although the release did not identify the declining sectors.

Louisiana Works did not respond to questions from The Center Square about which construction industries drove the annual job gains, how much of that growth involved publicly funded work and which sectors lost jobs in September.

A separate Louisiana Works briefing published Oct. 14 shows the state’s employment growth extending beyond construction and outpacing the national rate during an earlier period.

Comparing average employment in June through August with the same three months in 2025, the agency reported Louisiana payroll job growth of 1.4%, compared with 0.3% nationally. Louisiana ranked fifth among states for manufacturing employment growth and third for professional services employment growth, according to the briefing.

That analysis also showed declines in information and retail employment. Its figures were not seasonally adjusted and cover a different period from the September update.

Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4% in September, down from 4.2% both in August and a year earlier.

The number of unemployed residents declined to 84,645, a decrease of 3,551 from August and 4,311 from September 2025. The number of employed residents reached 2,018,326, up 8,668 over the year.

The employed-resident figure and the payroll job total come from separate surveys and measure different things. Payroll figures count jobs, while the unemployment figures measure residents’ employment status.

Across Louisiana, nine of the state’s 10 metropolitan statistical areas added jobs over the year, according to the release. Baton Rouge gained 13,700 jobs, while the Slidell metropolitan area tied its employment record at 103,500.

All figures are preliminary and subject to revision. Louisiana Works said additional September metropolitan and parish data will be released Oct. 28.