Industrial employment in New York fell 2.5% over the past 12 months, according to the 2011 New York Manufacturers Register, an industrial directory published by Manufacturers' News, Inc. (MNI), Evanston, Ill.
MNI reports New York lost 19,178 industrial jobs between July 2009 and July 2010, less than half the loss of 47,810 jobs the state experienced over the 2008-2009 survey period.
Manufacturers' News reports New York is now home to 17,315 manufacturers employing 743,764 workers.
"Decreased demand continues to affect New York's manufacturing industries. However we're definitely seeing fewer job losses than we did a year ago, and the state's continued investment in high-tech manufacturing and an educated workforce have improved the outlook," says Tom Dubin, MNI's president.
Bright spots that have emerged for the state include the partnership between India-based Reva Electric Car Co. and Bannon Automotive to build a plant in Clay for the production of plug-in vehicles; the expansion of contract chip manufacturer Globalfoundries; the opening of a new Beech-Nut baby food factory in Upstate New York, the expansion of the Remington firearms plant in Mohawk Valley; and the opening of Canadian-based Smardt Chiller Group's new facility in Plattsburgh.
Facilities laying off employees over the year included Pfizer's Rouses Point plant; IBM's Hopewell Junction facility; GM's Powertrain engine plant in Tonawanda; Alstom Transportation in Hornell; and Emerson Power Transmission in Ithaca.
Printing and publishing remains New York's top industrial sector by employment, MNI reports, accounting for 120,743 of the state's jobs, down 3.5% over the past 12 months.
Second-ranked industrial machinery and equipment employs 78,071, down 5.4%, while electronics manufacturing accounts for 70,580 jobs, down 4.5% over the survey period.
Industrial sectors that lost jobs over the year, MNI notes, included furniture/fixtures, down 6.9%; transportation equipment down 6.1%; paper products down 3.7%; textiles/apparel down 3.5%; primary metals down 3.4%; rubber/plastics down 2.3% and lumber/wood, also down 2.3%. Food products manufacturing saw a slight gain of 1.1%, while fabricated metals also saw a small increase, up 286 jobs.
