Over a one-year period, industrial employment in South Dakota grew 1.8 percent, according to the 2012 South Dakota Manufacturers Register, an industrial directory published yearly by Manufacturers' News, Inc. in Evanston, Ill.

The report shows that South Dakota added 882 industrial jobs between November 2010 and November 2011, and the state now supports 1,359 manufacturers employing 47,560 workers.

"The recovery is gaining momentum in South Dakota and across the U.S.," says Tom Dubin, president of MNI. "The state's business friendliness and low taxes have been a draw for a variety of enterprises."

Additionally, the report finds that food product manufacturing experienced a 2.2 percent employment increase, which ranks as the state's largest industrial sector by employment with 8,910 jobs. After growing by 5 percent, the second-ranked manufacturing sector is the industrial machinery and equipment, employing 6,813, and lumber and wood is the state's third largest industrial sector with 4,076 jobs, a 1.8 percent decline from the previous year.

Among the other sectors that gained jobs over the year, the report finds, include chemicals at 5.2 percent, transportation equipment at 3.4 percent, rubber and plastics at 2.7 percent, and fabricated metals at 2.3 percent. The sectors that faced losses are furniture and fixtures at 6.4 percent; primary metals at 3.6 percent; stone, clay and glass at 3 percent; textiles and apparel at 2.2 percent; and paper products at 2.1 percent.

The report also shows that the southeast region of South Dakota has the most industrial employment with 25,790 jobs, a 1.9 percent increase from the previous year. The northeast region employs 15,838 workers, a 2.3 growth, while the southwest has 4,126 jobs, a 1 percent decline from the past year. The northwest has 1,806 jobs, representing a 2.9 percent increase.

According to MNI's city data, Sioux Falls is South Dakota's top city for manufacturing employment where it employs 12,267 workers, which is up 0.5 percent from the previous year. Brookings is the second-ranked city with 4,336 jobs, a 2 percent increase. Industrial employment in Rapid City, home to 3,520 industrial workers, fell 1 percent.

Instant Insights /

SD manufacturing jobs grew 1.8%

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