Manufacturing employment increased in Iowa for a fourth straight year, reports the 2015 Iowa Manufacturers Register, an industrial database and directory.
According to data collected by MNI, Iowa manufacturers added 2,204 jobs from February 2014 to February 2015, a one percent increase.
Manufacturers’ News reports Iowa is now home to 5,291 manufacturers employing 269,067 workers. Industrial employment in Iowa rose 4% since February of 2011, recovering 41% of jobs lost during the recession, but lagging behind the 5.8% national average increase reported by the Labor Department for the same time period.
“With its low business costs, access to capital, and diverse economy, manufacturers continue to find Iowa a great place to do business,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “However, the state could benefit from greater workforce initiatives as many manufacturing positions go unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers.”
According to MNI’s industrial database, gains were led by the industrial machinery and fabricated metals sectors, which rank second and third, respectively, for number of Iowa factory jobs. Employment in industrial machinery manufacturing rose 3.4% over the year, with the sector accounting for 49,960 jobs, and employment in the fabricated metals sector climbed 2.9%, with the industry now employing 21,740.
The state’s top industry by employment, food products, posted a 1.1% decline, following the closure of a Tyson Foods plant in Cherokee and the shuttering of Advance Pierre Foods in Orange City. Food processing employment may rebound, however, with the opening of Iowa Premium Beef in Tama and the $9 million expansion of Smithfield’s meat processing plant in Sioux City. Other food processors announcing expansions in Iowa include Barilla’s location in Ames and Swiss Valley Farms’ cheese plant in Luana.
The chemicals sector also posted a gain, up 12.4%, as did electronics, up 10.3% and transportation equipment, up 6.5%. Losses were reported in textiles, down 7.8%, stone/clay/glass down 6.9%; primary metals, down 4.6%; and lumber/wood, down 3.7%.
The East Central region of Iowa accounts for the most industrial employment in the state with 94,093 jobs, up a half percent over the year. Southeast Iowa is home to 57,678 industrial workers, down a half percent. The West Central region accounts for 51,379 jobs, up 2.2%; Northeast Iowa is home to 25,433 workers, up 1.8%; while Northwest Iowa is home to 24,444, up 1%. Southwest Iowa accounts for 16,040 jobs, up 1.9%.
MNI reports Cedar Rapids posted a 4.9% increase over the year and ranks as Iowa’s largest city by manufacturing employment with 21,085 jobs. Industrial jobs in second-ranked Des Moines declined 1.6% to its current level of 17,222 jobs. Waterloo ranks third with 12,733 jobs, virtually unchanged over the year, while Davenport jobs rose one percent over the year, with the fourth-ranked city home to 8,542 industrial workers. Dubuque accounts for 8,342 of Iowa’s manufacturing jobs, down 3.8% over the past twelve months.
