Arkansas Industrial Job Down 7.3% Over Twenty-Four Months - October 23, 2009
Contact: Jennifer Ratcliff
Manufacturers’ News, Inc.
(847) 864-9440 ext. 241
jratcliff [at] manufacturersnews.com
EVANSTON, Ill, October 26th, 2009 /Manufacturers’ News, Inc./-- Industrial employment in Arkansas fell 7.3% over the past twenty-four months according to the 2010 Arkansas Manufacturers Register, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. MNI reports Arkansas lost 16,587 manufacturing jobs over the past two years, with 3,178 jobs lost between September 2007 and September 2008 and 13,409 industrial jobs from 2008 to September of this year.
Manufacturers’ News reports Arkansas is now home to 3,860 manufacturers employing 212,213 workers, compared to a high of 269,815 industrial workers recorded by MNI in 2001. Manufacturing jobs have declined steadily in the state since 2001, dropping 57,602 jobs or 21.3%. The loss of nearly 13,407 manufacturing jobs marks the sharpest decline MNI has ever reported in the fourteen years it has been tracking the state’s industry, and represents 23% of all industrial jobs lost since 2001.
“As with the entire nation, the recession continues to hit Arkansas’core sectors, while the faltering housing market has affected industries such as wood products, furniture and building products,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912.
Employment in the furniture/fixtures sector saw one of the sharpest declines, down 15.9% over the past twenty-four months, following consolidation and layoffs at Riverside Furniture Corp., among others. Employment in lumber/wood saw an 11.4% drop.
Arkansas’ top manufacturing sector remains food products with nearly a quarter of the state’s industrial employment, or 52,531 jobs, down 4.1% over the past 24 months, due partially to the closures of Pilgrim’s Pride and Petit Jean poultry processing plants. Second-ranked fabricated metal manufacturing employs 17,998 workers, down 4.2%, while industrial machinery and equipment employs the third-most in the state with 17,051 workers, down 8.6% over the past two years.
All other sectors in Arkansas lost jobs within the past twenty-four months and included transportation equipment, down 13.3%, stone/clay/glass down 11.1%; primary metals down 9.4%; electronics down 8.8%; rubber/plastics down 8.4%; chemicals/allied products down 8.1%; printing/publishing down 6.8% and paper products down 4.9%.
Despite the losses, some bright spots have emerged recently including the shifting of work from a Tennessee Little Debbie plant to Northwest Arkansas, the planned investment of Mitsubishi Power Systems in a wind turbine factory to be located in Fort Smith, and India-based Man Industries’ planned opening of a Headquarters and pipe-making facility at the Little Rock Port.
According to the directory, Northwest Arkansas accounts for the largest share of Arkansas’ industrial employment with 117,909 manufacturing jobs, or 55.6% of the state, down 5.1% over the past twenty-four months. The Northeast region ranks second at 39,415 manufacturing jobs, down 7.9% over two years. Southwest Arkansas is home to 35,843 industrial jobs, down 12.3%, while the Southeast is home to 19,046 jobs, down 8.9%.
MNI’s city data shows Fort Smith is Arkansas’ top city for manufacturing employment, with 17,013 jobs, down 11.9% over the past twenty-four months. Little Rock ranks second with 13,031 jobs, down 4.5% over two years. Springdale is home to 12,081 industrial jobs, down just a half percent, while Pine Bluff accounts for 7,147 jobs, down 8.4% over the past twenty-four months. Jonesboro industrial jobs dropped 7.1%, with the city currently home to 6,693 jobs.
Detailed profiles of Arkansas’ 3,860 manufacturers and 544 industrial distributors can be found in the 2010 Arkansas Manufacturers Register, available in print for $96 and on CD-ROM from $142. Each profile provides up to 30 facts, including vital contact information (phone, web, e-mail), 13,970 executives by name and title, product(s) manufactured, annual sales, number of employees, and more. Visitors to mnileads.com may generate custom profiles of manufacturers using thirteen different criteria, including area or zip code, county, SIC, sales volume, number of employees, and more.
Manufacturers’ News, Inc., publisher of manufacturers’ directories since 1912, compiles and produces manufacturing guides, statistics and databases for all 50 states. MNI also maintains IndustryNet.com, an industrial search engine designed specifically for locating manufacturers and suppliers nationwide. For more information, contact Manufacturers’ News, Inc., 1633 Central St., Evanston, IL, 60201, 847-864-7000, FAX 847-332-1100.
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