States continue to lose manufacturing jobs
According to data collected by Manufacturers’ News Inc., Utah manufacturers added 3,798 jobs, or 2.2 percent from September 2013 to September 2014, running ahead of the 1.4 percent national average gain as reported by the Labor Department for the same time period.
Manufacturers’ News reports Utah is now home to 3,661 manufacturers employing 173,250 workers. MNI recorded a 9.3 percent increase in the state’s manufacturing jobs since September 2011, outpacing the U.S’s overall gain of 3.3 percent.
“While many states continue to lose manufacturing jobs, Utah’s industrial sector has picked up steam,” says Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, Ill.-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “Its business climate is one of the most industry-friendly in the nation, while its access to capital and educated workforce continue to draw investment and support industrial growth.”
According to the database of Utah manufacturers, gains were led by the food products industry, which posted a 4.7 percent employment increase. Food products manufacturing is Utah’s largest sector by employment, with 19,268 workers.
Other manufacturing sectors adding jobs in Utah included primary metals, up 11.8 percent; oil/gas extraction, up 8.4 percent; chemicals up 4.7 percent; and petroleum products, up 4.5 percent.