Tagged: economy

New Orleans hotel operators say occupancy is the highest in more than a decade. They credit refurbished hotels, a jam-packed calendar and continued recovery from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Room rates are up, too. The Times-Picayune reports that Smith Travel Research quotes the city's average daily hotel rate at $154 — the highest since February 2002, when it averaged $159.40 a night.

Rates through April of this year averaged $148.61. That's 12.6 percent better than same four months last year.

Diplomatic ties between New Orleans and South Africa are being renewed after a break 33 years ago over Apartheid rule. An honorary consul’s main concern will be shepherding a $10 billion energy plant to completion in southwest Louisiana.

More than 250 veterans are expected to attend a job fair Friday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner. It’s part of a national campaign designed to help veterans as well as military spouses.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mary L. Landrieu's office says the senator planned visits to post offices in Moss Bluff and Lafayette. Friday's visits were set after Landrieu wrote to the Postmaster General, urging the U.S. Postal Service to extend the current moratorium on post office and mail processing facility closures.