Manufacturing employment rose 1.5% in R.I. in ’14

PROVIDENCE – Manufacturing employment in Rhode Island rose 1.5 percent in 2014, a contrast to losses suffered by most of New England and the Northeast, according to the 2015 Rhode Island Manufacturers Register published by Manufacturers’ News Inc.
According to MNI, Rhode Island manufacturers added 915 jobs from December 2013 to December 2014, an increase of 1.5 percent. The increase is in line with the 1.7 percent national average gain reported by the federal Labor Department during the same period.
MNI reported that the Ocean State is home to 1,703 manufacturers employing 58,967 workers.
It said Rhode Island’s increase was a “rare bright spot” in New England, where Maine experienced a 1.6 percent year-over-year loss; New Hampshire, a 1 percent decline; and Vermont, 1.3 percent drop.
“Though far from pre-recession levels, Rhode Island’s industrial sector continues to pick up speed, and employment has risen accordingly,” Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, Ill.-based publishing company, said in a statement. “Its ideal location along the Eastern seaboard and skilled workforce has helped boost investment, and recent business incentive efforts should help the state move forward.”
Gains were led by the transportation equipment industry, which saw a 13.5 percent rise in employment last year, largely due to the expansion of General Dynamics Electric Boat in North Kingstown. The “long-ailing” jewelry industry also experienced job growth of 6.7 percent, and jewelry makers account for 7 percent of the state’s industrial employment, with 3,885 workers, it said.
Other manufacturing industries that experienced increases included medical instruments at 7.2 percent; textiles/apparel, 7.5 percent; and food products, 1.9 percent, MNI said.
It also said that the state’s food processing sector should see additional gains as Greencore Group PLC opens its sandwich plant in Quonset Business Park, bringing another 630 jobs to the state.
Manufacturing segments that did not fare as well were furniture and fixtures, a 5.1 percent drop; industrial machinery, a 3.6 percent decrease; primary metals, a 2.9 percent drop; and lumber/wood, a 1.9 percent decline.
Providence employs the most manufacturing workers at 8,026, a 4.7 percent year-over-year decline. Pawtucket is second with 6,429 jobs, a 0.5 percent drop. Third-ranked North Kingstown accounts for 6,208 jobs, an increase of 9.3 percent, while Cranston jobs rose 1.1 percent as the fourth-ranked city accounted for 5,227 jobs. Warwick had 4,415 manufacturing workers, an increase of 7.7 percent.

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