Alabama lost 6.8% of its manufacturing jobs in past year

Industrial employment in Alabama fell 6.8 percent over the past 12 months according to the 2010 Alabama Manufacturers Register, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers' News Inc. MNI reports Alabama lost 21,132 industrial jobs and 306 manufacturers between March 2009 and March 2010, the sharpest decline MNI has ever reported in the 20 years it has been tracking the state's industry.

Manufacturers' News reports Alabama is now home to 5,751 manufacturers employing 308,772 workers.

"It's a perfect storm of negative conditions," says Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, Ill.-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. "The country has suffered deep losses in manufacturing employment due to automation and technology, outsourcing and the recession, while the faltering housing market has affected industries such as wood products, furniture and building products."

According to MNI, the furniture/fixtures sector saw the worst decline in employment, down 16.3 percent, due partially to the closure of outdoor furniture manufacturer Meadowcraft Inc. The lumber/wood sector declined 11.2 percent, following the closure of Chapman Forest Products, among others.

MNI reports food products manufacturing has overtaken transportation equipment as the state's largest industrial sector by employment, with 36,476 jobs, down 2.2 percent over the year. Transportation equipment ranks second after losing 10.7 percent of its employment, and currently accounts for 27,372 industrial jobs. Losses for this sector include the closures of Delphi's Athens plant, GF Goodrich's Opelika tire plant, and layoffs at Tiffin RV.

The transportation equipment sector may be poised for a recovery, however, with expansions planned for several plants including Honda and GKN Aerospace. Hybrid Kinetic Motors plans to launch a green-vehicle manufacturing plant in Baldwin County and auto supplier Faurecia North America plans a facility in Tuscaloosa County that will supply Mercedes-Benz. Additional auto supplier jobs are expected in the coming years due to the newly opened Kia plant in neighboring Georgia.

According to MNI, sectors that lost jobs over the past 12 months included industrial machinery and equipment, down 14.3 percent; printing/publishing, down 11 percent; textiles/apparel, down 8 percent; primary metals, down 7.1 percent; stone/clay/glass, down 6.5 percent; paper products, down 4.7 percent; and rubber/plastics, down 4.5 percent.

MNI reports Northeast Alabama accounts for the most industrial employment in the state, with 168,943 industrial jobs, down 5.1 percent over 12 months. Southeast Alabama accounts for 55,368 industrial jobs, down 6.3 percent. The Northwest region of the state is home to 46,201 industrial workers, down 4.3 percent, while the Southwest is home to 38,260, down 12.9 percent.  

Birmingham remains the state's top city by industrial employment with 33,286 manufacturing jobs, down 9 percent over the year. Huntsville saw employment increase 1 percent and is currently home to 31,073 industrial workers. Mobile accounts for 13,407 industrial jobs, down 9 percent, while Montgomery accounts for 13,384 of the state's jobs, down 5.4 percent. Fifth-ranked Decatur accounts for 10,377 jobs, down 4.4 percent over the past 12 months.