Wisconsin added 6,516 industrial jobs from July 2014 to July 2015, representing an increase of 1.1 percent. That information comes from the 2016 Wisconsin Manufacturers Register, an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News Inc.
This is the fourth consecutive year manufacturing employment increased in Wisconsin, according to the Evanston, Ill.-based publishing company, which has been surveying the industry since 1912.
Manufacturers’ News reports Wisconsin is now home to 10,694 manufacturers employing 572,189 workers. MNI data shows that over a four-year period beginning July 2011 the state gained 18,568 industrial jobs, an increase of 3.3 percent.
“Wisconsin gets high marks for its low business costs, solid infrastructure and ease of logistics,” said Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturers’ News. “In addition to gains recorded in the state’s major industries, such as food processing, big strides were also seen in many other sectors over the year.”
Job growth was led by the food processing sector, which climbed 2.8 percent over the year. Wisconsin’s food processing industry currently accounts for the second-most factory jobs, employing 69,663. The industrial machinery sector ranks first in the state for number of jobs, employing 102,750, with no significant change reported during the survey period.
Most other Wisconsin manufacturing industries gained jobs, including textiles/apparel, up 5.7 percent; medical instruments/related products, up 3.4 percent; rubber/plastics, up 2.4 percent; printing/publishing, up 1.5 percent; and electronics, up 1.3 percent.
Manufacturing jobs in Milwaukee rose a half percent over the year, with the city currently home to the most industrial employment, at 47,031. Other Wisconsin cities gaining manufacturing jobs included Waukesha, up 2.7 percent, and Green Bay, up 1.2 percent.
