At AccessPoint we are committed to providing opportunities for employment within the manufacturing industry. We are strongly encouraged by recent news of significant increases in employment rates in highly urbanized, metro areas from the past five years. These manufacturing hubs serve as a model for other employment sectors to keep up with as we pursue lower unemployment rates across the country.
In a recent article by USA Today online, Samuel Stebbins, Wall Street 24/7 presents a list of 28 cities in the US that have made a “comeback” in the manufacturing industry:
“24/7 Wall Street reviewed the percent change in manufacturing employment over the last five years in U.S. metro areas to identify the cities where manufacturing is making a comeback. To limit the list to manufacturing hubs, only cities with greater than typical employment concentration in the sector half a decade ago were considered.
In addition to the iconic steel and automaking jobs once common in many Rust Belt cities, the manufacturing sector includes a range of other industries, from food to medicine production. Many of today’s new manufacturing jobs bear little resemblance to those of the previous century.”
- Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana
- 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment:+33.7 percent (+17,100)
- 2017 manufacturing employment:67,900 (49.3 percent of total)
- 2012 manufacturing employment:50,800 (44.6 percent of total)
- Value of manufacturing exports:$4.5 billion
- August unemployment:7 percent
- Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan
- 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment:+21.8 percent (+20,600)
- 2017 manufacturing employment:115,200 (20.8 percent of total)
- 2012 manufacturing employment:94,600 (19.5 percent of total)
- Value of manufacturing exports:$7.4 billion
- August unemployment:7 percent
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan
- 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment:+19.6 percent (+41,500)
- 2017 manufacturing employment:253,100 (12.6 percent of total)
- 2012 manufacturing employment:211,600 (11.5 percent of total)
- Value of manufacturing exports:$28.8 billion
- August unemployment:2 percent
- Kalamazoo-Portage, Michigan
- 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment:+15.4 percent (+2,900)
- 2017 manufacturing employment:21,700 (14.7 percent of total)
- 2012 manufacturing employment:18,800 (13.8 percent of total)
- Value of manufacturing exports:$1.7 billion
- August unemployment:3 percent
- Jackson, Michigan
- 5-yr. change in manufacturing employment:+15.1 percent (+1,300)
- 2017 manufacturing employment:9,900 (17.0 percent of total)
- 2012 manufacturing employment:8,600 (15.9 percent of total)
- Value of manufacturing exports:$984.8 million
- August unemployment:5 percent