Tim Houk

Forbes magazine says Baton Rouge is the second-best midsized city in terms of job growth. Baton Rouge finished second, five spots higher than the 2009 rankings, despite seeing the number of non-farm jobs drop by 2.4%.

While 2009 was a dismal economic year, cities that had concentrations of government workers and government-subsidized industries, such as health care and colleges, fared better than others. Only Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., finished higher than Baton Rouge. In all categories, the Capital Region finished 15th in the Forbes rankings. Adam Knapp, BREC president and CEO, says the Forbes report confirms that the Capital Region economy is one of the most competitive in the U.S.