Florida Gained Manufacturing Jobs For A Fourth Straight Year

Contact: Jennifer Ratcliff
Manufacturers' News, Inc.
(847) 864-9440 ext. 241
jratcliff [at] mni.net



EVANSTON, Ill, May 30th, 2017/Manufacturers' News, Inc./-- Manufacturing employment in Florida inched up over the past twelve months, according to data collected by Manufacturers' News, Inc. (MNI), publisher of industrial databases and directories for all fifty states. MNI reports manufacturers in Florida added 1,339 jobs from March 2016 to March 2017, a gain of one third of one percent.

This is the fourth straight year Florida has added industrial jobs, reports MNI, with employment increasing by 20,987 jobs since March of 2013. Currently, Florida is home to 13,942 manufacturers employing 476,202 workers.

“Florida’s abundance of capital and solid infrastructure has drawn some key enterprises to its borders, particularly in the aerospace and electronics industries, and the state has in turn secured significant post-recession manufacturing gains,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “However, Florida faces tough competition from its neighbors, and finding skilled workers remains a challenge for many manufacturers.”

MNI reports the fabricated metals sector led gains over the past year, with jobs up 2.5%. The fabricated metals industry ranks first in the state for manufacturing employment with 48,531 jobs.

Second-ranked electronics also gained jobs, up 1% to 46,672 workers, while third-ranked food processing held steady at 45,247.

Additional Florida manufacturing job gains were recorded in the paper products industry, up 3.5%, as well as in rubber/plastics, up 2.2%; textiles/apparel, up 2%; and lumber/wood, up one half of one percent.

Several new plant announcements in Florida bode well for the coming year, with the recent establishment of Chicago-based Ozinga’s concrete mixing factory in Miami; and the opening of Nanotherapeutics’ biodefense facility in Alachua. In addition, Ebraer Aero Seating broke ground on a new plant in Titusville, and Cox Enterprises plans to establish a tire processing facility in Nahunta.

Offsetting these gains were job losses recorded in furniture/fixtures, down 3.5%; industrial machinery, down 1.6%; chemicals, down 1.4%; and stone/clay/glass, down 1.2%.

Industrial locations announcing closures in Florida included Insight Optical Manufacturing Company, which shuttered its facility in Hialeah; Merck Sharp & Dohme, which closed its pharmaceutical plant in Miami Lakes; and West Rock, which closed its box folding factory in Jacksonville.

Central Florida is home to 208,640, or 44% of the state’s industrial workers, down a half percent over the year, reports MNI. South Florida accounts for 181,031 manufacturing jobs, up one percent, while Northeast Florida accounts for 59,622, also up one percent. Industrial jobs in the Panhandle additionally rose one percent, with the region home to 26,917 of the state’s workers.

City data collected by MNI shows Jacksonville remains the state’s top city by industrial employment, with 37,905 jobs, up 1.1% over the past year. Employment in second-ranked Orlando fell 4% to 33,768 industrial jobs, while employment in third-ranked Miami declined 1.6% to 29,984 jobs. Tampa accounts for 25,482 jobs, down 4%, while Fort Lauderdale accounts for 16,834, up 2.1%.

Established in 1912, MNI is the nation’s oldest and largest compiler of industrial information, offering tailored solutions to help customers connect with 430,000 manufacturers and suppliers. MNI’s industrial marketplace IndustryNet: http://www.industrynet.com is a one-stop resource that connects buyers with suppliers of 10,000 + products and services, and allows users to obtain competitive quotes, create and view company profiles, post company news releases, photos, videos, job openings, and more. MNI’s subscription service EZ Select: http://www.ezselect.com provides access to MNI’s live interactive database of manufacturers. For more information, contact MNI at 847-864-7000 or visit http://www.mni.net