West Virginia Industrial Jobs Decline 1.4%

October 13, 2015 | By Business Wire News

EVANSTON, Ill.

Manufacturers’ News, Inc.– Manufacturing employment in West Virginia declined over the past year, reports the 2016 West Virginia Manufacturers Register^®, an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. According to MNI’s database of manufacturers, West Virginia lost 1,184 industrial jobs from July 2014 to July 2015, or 1.4%.

Manufacturers’ News reports West Virginia is now home to 1,741 manufacturers employing 78,144 workers.

“West Virginia continues to struggle with the decline in the coal industry and with depressed natural gas prices, employment in the state’s oil and gas sector has come to a halt,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “However, several companies are beginning to take note of the state’s ideal location for access to markets on the eastern seaboard, as well as its low business costs.”

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Job losses were led by the coal mining industry, with employment falling 4% in that sector. Coal mining ranks first in the state for industrial employment, employing 10,445. Employment in the state’s oil/gas extraction sector was flat over the year, after growing 16% from the end of the recession to July 2014.

Additional job losses were recorded in electronics, down 5%; stone/clay/glass, down 2.6%; industrial machinery, also down 2.6%; fabricated metals, down 2.5%; and chemical processing, down 1.5%.

Gains were recorded in primary metals, up 4.3%, and medical instruments/related products, up 1.9%.

Industrial jobs in Huntington fell 1.1% over the year, reports MNI, with the city home to the most manufacturing jobs in the state, numbering 5,507. Other cities posting declines included Charleston, down 4.3%; Morgantown, down 2%; and Martinsburg, down 1.1%.

Established in 1912, Manufacturers’ News, Inc. is the nation’s oldest and largest publisher of industrial information. MNI offers a variety of tailored solutions to help customers connect with 430,000 manufacturers and suppliers. MNI’s industrial database subscription service EZ Select (www.ezselect.com) allows users to tap into a live interactive database of manufacturers, while its industrial search engine IndustryNet (www.industrynet.com) connects buyers and suppliers and allows users to view profiles and obtain competitive quotes. For more information, contact Manufacturers’ News, Inc. 847-864-7000. http://www.manufacturersnews.com