Manufacturing Steady in Nebraska, Down in Missouri

Over the past 12 months, manufacturing jobs have remained steady with little change in the state of Nebraska, while many workers have lost their employment in Missouri over the same time period. Nebraska manufactures many agriculture-related products, while Missouri produces more automotive equipment.

According to a press release issued by Manufacturers' News Inc. on Monday, there was a minor increase (half percent) in Nebraska's manufacturing jobs since the month of June, 2006. It indicated that Nebraska has over three-thousand manufacturers who employ almost 132.5 thousand workers. The press release quoted the President of Manufacturers' News Inc. as saying that Nebraska has successfully "defied the national trend" in manufacturing employment by promoting industries which "can't easily be outsourced." The largest portion of such jobs (seventy percent) are located in southeastern Missouri. Most of the small gains in employment were in the meat-packing, commercial printing, and farm machinery sectors. It also stated that Nebraska has the 35th most manufacturing jobs in the United States.

A few days earlier, on Friday, Manufacturers' News Inc. issued a press release on the manufacturing employment situation in the midwestern state of Missouri. It indicated a substantial reduction of jobs, with 4.8% of the state's manufacturing plants having shut down. This caused 3.8% of Missouri's manufacturing workers to lose their employment in the past twelve months. Missouri has 9,270 manufacturers, many more than Nebraska, with over 418 thousand employees. The city of St. Louis has the greatest number of manufacturing jobs in Missouri. The most jobs were lost in the automotive and industrial machinery fields, while there was an increase in the smaller food sector's employment. The loss of employment was most significant in the southwestern part of Missouri, at 6.4%. The President of Manufacturers' News Inc. attributed the job losses to greater automation and businesses moving their manufacturing overseas (where it is cheaper).

According to the CIA World Factbook, some of the United States' largest manufacturing industries include steel, automobiles, and aerospace equipment. Some of its major exports are food products, aircraft, auto parts, computers, and automobiles. Canada, Mexico, and Japan are the nations which purchase the largest amount of its exports. Imports exceed exports by about 862 billion dollars; Canada and China are nearly tied as the largest suppliers of imports. It also indicates that nearly seventy-nine percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is based upon services.

More information is available at manufacturersnews.com.

Sources:

1. Manufacturers' News Inc., http://www.manufacturersnews.com/news/release.asp?ID=92
2. Manufacturers' News Inc., http://www.manufacturersnews.com/news/release.asp?ID=91
3. CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html#Econ