Kentucky lost 11.1% of its manufacturing jobs over the past 24 months

Industrial employment in Kentucky fell 11.1 percent over the past 24 months according to the 2011 Kentucky Manufacturers Register, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers' News Inc. MNI reports Kentucky lost 34,765 manufacturing jobs and 344 plants over the past two years.

Manufacturers' News reports Kentucky is now home to 5,384 manufacturers employing 277,616 workers.

"Decreased demand continues to affect Kentucky manufacturing, particularly the transportation sector and industries related to the housing market," says Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, Ill.-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. "But losses have definitely slowed over the past year and the state's favorable business climate continues to help improve the outlook."

Bright spots for the state include the openings of several new plants including Kentucky Copper Inc.'s operation in Morgantown; Mountain Valley Recycling's facility in Frankfort; Coating Excellence International's packaging company in Hebron; WL Plastic's plant in Elizabethtown; and Olympic Steel's factory in Mount Sterling. Kentucky manufacturers reporting expansions include ZF Steering; Magna Car Top Systems; Integrated Pharmaceutical Packaging; Polyair Corporation; and Raytheon Missile Systems.

Employment in the transportation sector experienced the sharpest decline, down 20.5 percent over the past two years, following the closures of ArvinMeritor's plant in Carrollton and Intertech Systems in Bardstown, among others. Transportation equipment manufacturing remains Kentucky's largest sector by employment, with 37,275 of the state's industrial jobs.

Food products manufacturing has overtaken industrial machinery and equipment as Kentucky's second-largest industrial sector by employment with 33,653 jobs, up 3 percent over the past 24 months. Third-ranked industrial machinery and equipment accounts for 30,454 jobs, down 16 percent over the past two years, due partially to layoffs at Emerson Power Transmission and to the closure of  Modine Manufacturing Company.

Most sectors in Kentucky lost jobs within the past 24 months and included lumber/wood, down 20 percent; fabricated metals, down 18.4 percent; furniture/fixtures, down 16.3 percent; textiles/apparel, down 14 percent; primary metals, down 13.4 percent; electronics, down 11.5 percent; rubber/plastics, down 8.5 percent; stone/clay/glass, down 8.2 percent; chemicals, down 4.1 percent; and printing/publishing, down 1.3 percent. Paper products saw a gain of 1.3 percent, according to MNI.

According to the industrial directory, Northeast Kentucky accounts for the largest share of Kentucky's industrial employment with 154,017 manufacturing jobs,, down 10 percent over the past 24 months. Southeast Kentucky ranks second at 45,209 manufacturing jobs, down 18.4 percent over two years. Southwest Kentucky is home to 43,436 industrial jobs, down 11 percent, while the Northwest is home to 34,954 jobs, down 10.1 percent.

MNI's city data shows Louisville is Kentucky's top city for manufacturing employment, with 50,267 jobs, down 10.5 percent over the past 24 months. Lexington ranks second with 20,772 jobs, down 6.6 percent over two years while Georgetown accounts for 9,634 jobs, down 2.2 percent over the past 24 months. Fourth-ranked Florence saw manufacturing employment increase 4 percent over the past two years and is currently home to 9,237 industrial jobs. Bowling Green industrial jobs declined 19.6 percent, with the fifth-ranked city now home to 9,165 jobs.