B.R. industrial employment flat on the year

Baton Rouge remains Louisiana’s top city for industrial employment, accounting for 15,664 manufacturing jobs, but there’s been no significant change in employment figures reported over the past 12 months. That’s according to the 2012 Louisiana Manufacturers Register, a new industrial directory out today by Manufacturer’s News Inc. The register says industrial employment statewide posted a slight gain over the past 12 months: an increase of 533 jobs, or less than 1% growth between April 2011 and April 2012. As of April, 5,205 Louisiana manufacturers were employing some 189,535 workers. “Following several years of job losses, Louisiana is finally seeing its manufacturing sector improve,” says Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, Ill.-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “The state’s business-friendly environment as well as its stronghold in the oil and gas industry, shipbuilding and chemicals has been a draw for a variety of enterprises.” MNI reports chemical manufacturing employs the most industrial workers in Louisiana, with 24,927 of the state’s jobs, down about one-half a percentage point over the year. Industrial machinery and equipment ranks second with 23,965 industrial jobs, up 1.9%. Oil and gas extraction ranks as the state’s third-largest manufacturing sector with 19,218 of the state’s industrial jobs, up 1.2% over the past twelve months. Earlier this week, Ball State University released grades for each state’s performance in several areas affecting the health of the manufacturing industry. In it, Louisiana got a “C”. Get the complete grades in the full story from Daily Report here.