With more than $78 billion in capital investments in the region, the Lake Charles metropolitan area had the largest one-year rate of growth in Louisiana at 4.1 percent, according to state labor officials.

“Last year, Dr. Loren Scott had forecast that the Lake Charles region would lead the state in jobs, so this is confirmation to that prediction,” said George Swift, president and CEO of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance.

Scott, an economic consultant, predicted in October that Lake Charles would grow 3.3 percent. The Louisiana Workforce Commission announced this week there was an increase of 3,800 jobs, placing Southwest Louisiana’s total at 95,700.

“To forecast that a region is going to grow that fast is almost unheard of, and I’ve been forecasting for 32 years,” Scott said Tuesday. “We would be hard pressed to find any other time when we tried to forecast a growth rate like that for any area.”

From 1998 to 2012 was a “rough period” for Lake Charles economically, Scott said. “Lake Charles was flat for the longest time period,” he said. “But Lake Charles has really taken off, which started last year.”

Swift said that as work continues to start, the area will continue to lead the state for the next two to three years.

“We are going to be focusing on trying to get as many of our local workers trained, so they can get these jobs,” Swift said. “It’s a good sign that we are in this position right now.”

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Mike Groll