California Lost 42,000 Industrial Jobs in Past 12 Months

A new report says California lost 494 manufacturers and 42,000 industrial jobs in the year ending this last February.

The previous year, ending February 2008, California lost 564 such companies and 16,055 jobs. In 2007, the state had lost 1,525 plants and 24,266 jobs.

The report by Evanston, Illinois’ Manufacturer’s News says the Golden State has 26,400 manufacturing businesses, 2,300 industrial distributors and 1.6 million industrial workers.

California is home to 13% of the electronics manufacturers in the United States, with 255,800 people working in that sector.

Manufacturer’s News has been publishing directories and databases of manufacturing businesses since 1912.