After several years of losses, industrial employment in Wisconsin grew by 0.5 percent in the last year and now provides 573,782 jobs by 11,453 manufacturers, according to the 2013 Wisconsin Manufacturers Register, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers' News Inc.
This amounts to an increase of 3,896 industrial jobs between July 2011 and July 2012.
"Wisconsin continues to see its manufacturing sector improve," says Tom Dubin, president of MNI. "The state's solid infrastructure, educated work force and friendly business environment has been a draw for a variety of enterprises."
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Each of Wisconsin's largest manufacturing sectors by employment added jobs over the year, MNI finds. The job growth includes industrial machinery and equipment at 2.6 percent with 102,921 jobs, food products accounts at 1 percent with 66,717 jobs and fabricated metals at 2.7 percent with 66,409 jobs. Additional gains are in rubber and plastics at 2.4 percent, transportation equipment at 1.6 percent and chemicals at 1 percent. Of the industrial sectors that lost jobs are lumber and wood at minus 2.4 percent; furniture and fixtures at minus 2.3 percent; paper products at minus 2.1 percent; and stone, clay and glass at minus 2.1 percent.
Southeast Wisconsin employs more than half of Wisconsin's industrial employment with 311,841 jobs, up 1 percent in the last year, MNI finds, while Central Wisconsin accounts for 180,210 jobs, up 1 percent, as well. Southwest Wisconsin is home to 45,946 industrial jobs, down 1 percent, and employment in Northern Wisconsin grew 1.2 percent with 35,785 manufacturing workers.
Milwaukee ranks as Wisconsin's top city for manufacturing employment with 53,558 jobs, a 2.6 percent decline over the year, MNI finds. Green Bay comes in at second with 22,531 jobs, up 0.5 percent, followed by Madison with 18,371 industrial jobs, up 3.3 percent from 2011. Coming in at fourth is Waukesha with 15,832 manufacturing jobs, a 1 percent increase while Appleton accounts for 14,221 jobs, up a 0.5 percent in the past year.
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