State’s manufacturing jobs rise for first time in a decade
Following several years of declines, manufacturing employment in Illinois rose a half percent over the past twelve months, according to the 100th anniversary 2012 Illinois Manufacturers Directory.
The annual publication from Evanston-bsaed MNI reported Illinois gained 3,496 industrial jobs between November 2010 and November 2011, the first time in over a decade that the 100-year-old company recorded a gain in manufacturing employment for the state. Manufacturers’ News said Illinois is now home to 19,111 manufacturers employing 817,063 workers.
“We’re finally starting to see positive numbers for Illinois,” said Tom Dubin, president of the publishing company. “Despite a high corporate tax rate, Illinois still boasts an educated workforce, easy access to capital, and a central location within the Midwest to do business. It’s unlikely that manufacturing employment will ever return to the levels of ten years ago, but it’s nice to see the uptick.”
Bright spots for the state included Chrysler’s recent announcement that it planned to hire 1,800 workers for its Belvidere assembly facility; the opening of a new Boeing plant in Mascoutah; the planned expansions of Caterpillar’s facilities in Decatur and East Peoria; and Ford’s plans to expand its Chicago-area plants. Excel Foundry & Machines recently announced the company would expand its Pekin factory; Continental Tire and Magnum Steel Works both plan expansions in Mount Vernon; and Italian pasta maker Pastificio will open a production facility in Bartlett.
MNI reports industrial machinery and equipment remains Illinois’ largest industrial sector by employment with 129,114 jobs, up 871 jobs or a half percent. Second-ranked fabricated metals accounts for 94,089 jobs, with no significant change reported over the past twelve months, while third-ranked food products manufacturing accounts for 91,615 industrial jobs, down 1.6 percent.
Industrial sectors that gained jobs over the year included transportation equipment, up 5.2%; instruments/related products, up 2.4 percent; rubber/plastics, up 1 percent and electronics, up a half percent. Losses were seen in lumber/wood, down 4.8 percent; printing/publishing, down 4.6 percent; furniture/fixtures, down 4.5 percent; stone/clay/glass, down 4.1 percent; paper products, down 4 percent and chemicals, down 1.9 percent.
Manufacturing locations closing down included Quad/Graphics’ Mt. Morris site; the Chicago Sun-Times printing plant on Chicago’s south side; Protein Solutions’ meatpacking plant in Chicago; Honeywell’s Safety Products establishment in Rock Island; Dehler Manufacturing’s facility in Chicago; National Envelope’s Elk Grove Village site; and Lifetime Doors, Inc.’s location in Watseka.
Manufacturers’ News reports Northeast Illinois accounts for 70 percent of the state’s industrial employment, with 568,929 jobs, up 2,047 jobs or less than one percent over the year. Cook County accounts for 301,209 of these jobs, down 1.4 percent over the past twelve months. The manufacturing employment picture improved significantly for some of the collar counties, with jobs in the region posting a net 3.1 percent gain. Industrial jobs were up 4.7 percent in DuPage County; rose 3.7 percent in Lake County; and increased 5 percent in Kane County. Will County saw no significant change in industrial employment, while McHenry County saw a 3.7 percent decline.