Many Katrina evacuees have been forced to look for new jobs. Will they find them?

The Online Journal and its sister site, CareerJournal.com, examined the local economies and job markets of three locations devastated by the hurricane, and three locations where evacuees have headed. We compared New Orleans, Biloxi, Miss., and tiny Bayou La Batre, Ala. -- some of the cities hardest hit -- with Baton Rouge, La., Houston and Memphis, Tenn. -- among the places receiving evacuees.

In some ways, these six places are similar. They all have median household incomes lower than the national average, $41,994 in 2000, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

But in other ways, they're very different. Unemployment is relatively high in Memphis and Baton Rouge, while before Katrina it was below the national average in New Orleans and Bayou La Batre. The state and local governments are big employers in Baton Rouge, as they are in Houston, but strong industries in Houston also include construction, natural resources and mining. Casinos and leisure businesses have a big presence throughout the region.

On Friday, Louisiana said it saw a record number of initial jobless claims in the past week -- about 105,000 versus a typical 3,000. Here are more details on each location. Please email us with your thoughts on these and other job markets for evacuees.

• Bayou La Batre, Ala.

Population: 2,313
Median household income: $24,539
Percent of adults 25 and over with B.A. degrees or higher: 7.4%
Unemployment: 4.6%
Some major employers: Jubilee Foods, Sea Pearl Seafood Co., Graham Fisheries Inc., Deep Sea Foods
Outlook: Before Katrina, approximately 85% of the city's work force was employed by the seafood industry, according to a local official, in occupations such as seafood processing, net making and boat building. The hurricane has devastated local shrimp-, crab- and oyster-processing companies. Seafood boats haven't been able to leave port, and there are worries that environmental pollution from the hurricane will further cripple the local industry. Some local companies could permanently be out of business.

• Biloxi, Miss.

Population: 50,644
Median household income: $34,106
Percent of adults 25 and over with B.A. degrees or higher: 19.2%
Unemployment: 5.8%
Some major employers: Beau Rivage Casino Resort, Biloxi Public School District, Boomtown Casino, Casino Magic Biloxi, Grand Casino Biloxi, Gulf Oaks Medical Center, Isle of Capri Casino, Keesler Air Force Base

Outlook: Casinos are among the city's biggest employers, and the hurricane put at least five out of commission, leaving thousands of people out of work. In total, the city's casinos had 9,434 employees in 2004, according to the city's General Market Analysis 2005 report. Gaming experts predict that it will be months before the casinos recover.

Still, some casinos have begun paying workers to help with cleanup after the storm. MGM Mirage plans to hire up to 400 workers in the near term and re-hire additional workers as needed in the coming months. (See full article -- Wall Street Journal Online subscribers.)

The service industry, another main employer in town, was crippled by the storm, with many of the restaurants that line U.S. 90 in Biloxi closed because of hurricane damage.

• New Orleans
  

Population: 484,674
Median household income: $27,133
Percent of adults 25 and over with B.A. degrees or higher: 25.8%
Unemployment: 5.6%
Some major employers: Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Regional Transit Authority, Textron Marine & Land Systems, Methodist Hospital, Bally's Casino Lakeshore Resort

Outlook: Before Katrina devastated the city, tourism was its fastest-growing industry, accounting for 14% of jobs, up from 11% in 1990, according to Property & Portfolio Research, a real-estate research firm. It is also the city's largest employer after the government. The city's other key industries are its port, energy and education.

"Before you can get the tourists back, you need workers back and utilities restored, so I can't imagine tourism returning until after January the earliest," says Phil Hopkins, an economist at Global Insight, an economic consulting firm based in Waltham, Mass. "A challenge is going to be getting housing for workers in the tourism sector because to operate hotels and convention centers, you need people there to provide services, and right now their homes are under water."

Prior to the hurricane, the city had had one of the nation's highest concentrations of poor people and one of its worst crime rates. From July 2004 to July 2005, New Orleans employment grew by 0.7%, compared with national growth of 1.7%, according to Global Insight.

• Baton Rouge, La.

Population: 227,818
Median household income: $30,368
Percent of adults 25 and over with B.A. degrees or higher: 31.7%
Unemployment: 6.2%
Some major employers: Baton Rouge General Medical Center, Dow Chemical Co., Entergy Gulf States Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Georgia Gulf Corp., Harmony LLC, Turner Industries Ltd., Louisiana State University

Outlook: As the state capital, Baton Rouge offers a job market that, while not growing, is relatively stable. The economy's largest employers are the state and local governments and Louisiana State University, according to economist Kim Leppold at Global Insight. Because Baton Rouge is home to LSU, it has a strong pool of college-educated workers, she says.

But competition for jobs in leisure and hospitality may be stiff. In July 2005, this sector employed 30,300 employees in Baton Rouge compared with 85,500 in New Orleans, according to Global Insight. This suggests that there will be far fewer opportunities for bellboys, dishwashers, waiters and short-order cooks, says Ms. Leppold.

Overall, employment growth in Baton Rouge has been poor. From July 2004 to July 2005, employment declined 0.1%, reports Global Insight. Meanwhile, national employment during that time grew by 1.7%.

Resources: The Chamber of Greater Baton Rouge; Office/retail space in Baton Rouge; SBA Loans for Hurricane Victims

• Houston

Population: 1,953,631
Median household income: $36,616
Percentage of adults 25 and over with B.A. degrees or higher: 27%
Unemployment: 5.3%
Some major employers: Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Continental Airlines Inc., Halliburton Co., University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; Kroger Co., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Outlook: Houston is still assessing the effect that Katrina is likely to have on its economy. Before the storm, construction, natural resources and mining were growth drivers, with employment across those sectors increasing 4.2% from July 2004 to July 2005, according to Global Insight. "Houston has a strong construction sector, so certainly something like construction labor might be something an evacuee could pursue," says Mr. Hopkins.

Because of the sheer size of its economy, the Houston metro area has the potential to offer Katrina evacuees a variety of job opportunities, Mr. Hopkins says. Total employment is about 2.3 million -- about seven times the employment in Baton Rouge. Houston's leisure and hospitality industry is more than twice the size of New Orleans's, he says. Tourism had been the Big Easy's largest employment category after the government.

"Houston's advantage is it's bigger and more diverse, which gives you more opportunities," says Mr. Hopkins.

Resources: Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

• Memphis

Population: 650,100
Median household income: $32,285
% of adults 25 and over with B.A. degrees or higher: 20.9%
Unemployment: 6.1%

Some major employers: FedEx Corp., Methodist Healthcare, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Park Place Entertainment, First Tennessee Bank

Outlook: Memphis is a large logistics and distribution center, home to the headquarters of FedEx Corp., operations of United Parcel Service Inc. and a Northwest Airlines Corp. hub. International Paper Co. has announced that it's moving its headquarters there from Stamford, Conn.

The city also is a center for life-sciences research and development employers. "The labor market in Memphis is large and diversified," says John Gnuschke, professor of economics at the University of Memphis and director of the Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Still, the unemployment rate has remained higher there than in some other parts of the country, due to the loss of manufacturing jobs, says John Moore, chief executive officer of the Memphis Regional Chamber.

Just south of Memphis, in Tunica County, Miss., a thriving gaming industry operates on the Mississippi River. Evacuees who worked at Gulf Coast casinos may find jobs there, says David Ciscel, a professor of economics at the University of Memphis. Prospects for lower-skilled workers aren't as bright in Memphis, says Prof. Ciscel. "Our low-end job market is flooded." He adds that the economy hasn't been strong enough to absorb the large number of undocumented workers in the job market, most from Mexico, he says. "If life was grim in New Orleans, we aren't going to change that," he says.

Resources: Memphis Regional Chamber; Job Opportunities in Memphis

By the Numbers

(1) July 2005 preliminary, for the city or town's metropolitan statistical area.

Sources for this report include: Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Census 2000, Biloxi General Market Analysis 2005; Mississippi Employment Security Commission; Property & Portfolio Research; Greater Houston Partnership Member Survey, spring 2004.