Kentucky Gained Manufacturing Jobs for a Fifth Straight Year

December 30, 2015 | By Business Wire News

EVANSTON, Ill.

Kentucky manufacturing employment climbed for a fifth straight year, reports the 2016 Kentucky Manufacturers Register^®, an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. According to MNI’s database of manufacturers, Kentucky gained 3,151 manufacturing jobs from October 2014 to October 2015, or 1.1%.

Kentucky is now home to 4,924 manufacturers employing 292,001 workers. MNI reports the state has so far added 17,665 industrial jobs or 6.4% since October 2010.

“Kentucky has reinvented itself as a hotbed for auto manufacturing following the recession’s steep losses,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “Its labor costs are among the lowest in the nation, and its favorable business environment continues to draw manufacturers to the state, with the transportation equipment industry growing by a third since 2010.”

For the full report, including a regional analysis, click here or visit http://www.manufacturersnews.com/news

MNI reports gains were led by the transportation equipment industry, which increased 7.4% over the year and has climbed steadily over the past several years, adding 13,036 jobs or 35% since October 2010. Transportation equipment ranks as the state’s largest sector by number of jobs, employing 49,863.

By comparison, employment in Tennessee’s transportation equipment industry grew 5.4% over the year, and currently employs 51,001. Proportionately, Kentucky’s transportation equipment sector accounts for a larger percentage of overall industrial employment, accounting for 17% of the state’s factory jobs, compared to Tennessee’s 13%.

Other Kentucky industries adding jobs over the year included lumber/wood, up 3.4%; fabricated metals, up 2.9%; stone/clay/glass, up 1.7%; paper products, up 1.4%; and food processing, up 1.3%.

Manufacturing jobs in Louisville 2.7% over the year, and declined 3% in Lexington, reports MNI.

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.mni.net or follow MNI on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mfrsnews