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Study finds New Orleans richer after Katrina

New Orleans is richer than it was before Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, but largely because many of its poor have not returned since the storm, according to a report released Wednesday.

Average wages are up, "knowledge-based" jobs are gaining ground on the area's traditional blue-collar economy and basic services like schools and hospitals are improving, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told reporters.

While the poverty rate of 23 percent is the lowest since 1979, that's nearly double the national average of 13 percent, according to figures from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center and the Brookings Institution. And many of the city's poor residents have either moved to the suburbs or haven't returned to the area, the report's authors said....
Read entire article at CNN