A smaller base of manufacturers employed a larger workforce in Michigan, reversing an industrial employment decline of several years, according to the trade database publisher Manufacturers News Inc.
The Evanston, Ill.-based publisher of manufacturing directories and databases for all 50 states reports that Michigan in February was home to 14,286 manufacturers employing 638,336 workers, compared with 14,430 companies employing 628,084 people during the same month of 2011.
Transportation equipment manufacturing remains the state’s largest industrial sector by employment with 125,746 jobs, up 1.7 percent from 2011. Industrial machinery and equipment followed with 118,418 jobs, also a 1.7 percent increase. Third-place fabricated metals accounted for 77,547 jobs, down 1.2 percent over the same period.
Grand Rapids was the city with the most industrial jobs and was about flat at 39,410, while Detroit was off 2 percent at 32,031 jobs. Auburn Hills saw 12.9 percent growth to 23,024 industrial workers, followed by Warren at 15,763 (down 1 percent) and No. 5 Holland at 14,679 jobs, up 1.5 percent.
