Job growth in the manufacturing industry returned to Maryland and Washington D.C. for the first time in several years, while Indiana posted its second-straight year of increased employment in the field.
While Maryland-Washington D.C. only gained about 700 jobs in the industry between May 2012 and May 2013, according to the Baltimore Business Journal, it marks a step in the right direction considering the past several years in the region.
In the past five years, the area lost more than 22,000 manufacturing jobs, about 11 percent of its workforce in the sector. Printing and publishing and electronics manufacturing are the region’s largest sectors, though industrial equipment saw a rise of nearly 2 percent in the past year, the largest growth in the sector.
“Manufacturers in Maryland have yet to fully recover from the recession, and high business taxes have affected hiring,” said Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturers’ News, the publication that initially reported the numbers. “However, the state’s educated workforce, access to capital and its reputation as a center for innovation continue to be a draw for new business.”
Likewise, after a few years of drops, Indiana is on the rebound, gaining more than 8,000 manufacturing jobs in the last year for its second consecutive year of growth. It’s also leading the nation with 4,300 manufacturing jobs added in the month of June, according to the Northwest Indiana Times. Steel production is its biggest manufacturing sector.