Michigan manufacturers added about 14,000 jobs in the last year, according to an industrial database study released today by Manufacturers’ News Inc.
“Michigan’s industrial base has achieved a remarkable turnaround following the recession’s steep losses, particularly in the all-important auto sector,” says Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, Ill.-based company, which has been surveying the industry since 1912.
Dubin says Michigan is home to about 14,000 manufacturers employing roughly 675,000 workers. Industrial employment has climbed about 8 percent since February 2011, recovering 40 percent of the jobs lost during the recession.
Employment gains from February 2014 to this February were led by the transportation equipment sector, which has climbed 8 percent over the past four years. Manufacturing employment declined in the city of Detroit, but rose by about 9 percent in Warren, 4 percent in Auburn Hills, and 2 percent in Sterling Heights.
“The Big Three (automakers) continue to expand in the state and investment programs such as the Michigan Strategic Fund have helped fuel start-ups and innovation,” Dubin says. “Tesla’s announcement last week that it will establish a manufacturing presence in Michigan is a definite boon to the state.”
