Manufacturing Sector Employs Many in Ohio

A profile of the manufacturing sector in the Appalachian, Ohio area shows that the manufacturing sector is a major employer in the area. There are currently a total of about 85,000 people working within this particular sector. The number of people working within this sector has increased by a total of 4 percent over the past three years, according to The Vinton Daily.

While the Appalachian area has many people employed in the manufacturing sector, other areas do not have as many jobs available within that sector. Prior to the recession, the manufacturing sector was actually the leading source of employment for the Appalachian area. The report says, “Between 2006 and 2009, employment in the manufacturing sector fell by over 30,000 from approximately 113,000 to 82,000, and from first to third in overall employment among the major industries.”

While employment within this sector is not what it used to be, the industry has been improving slowly but surely. The 4 percent increase over the past few years shows that progress is, in fact, being made. It is now the second largest sector in the area. Even with the recession that has passed, manufacturing is still essential for the economy in this area.

In fact, the report says, “In 2011, manufacturing accounted for 13.7 percent of total employment (in Appalachian Ohio) compared to 9.1 percent nationally.” During 2011 alone, there were a total of more than 2,500 different establishments, all of which were related to the manufacturing sector in some sort of way. The vast majority of these establishments had fewer than 100 employees working for them.

There are certain industries that employ the most in the Appalachian Ohio region. These particular industries include transportation equipment, plastic products, rubber products, machinery, and fabricated metal as well. Fabricated metal actually helped to employ a total of 11,065 workers during 2011, which was a total of about 13 percent of the employees who work within the manufacturing sector.

Fabricated metal has to do with a variety of different products, aside from just machinery. These products may include computers and various other electronics, along with furniture that is made out of metal. Food manufacturing is also a thriving industry within the manufacturing sector, especially in the United States.

There were several other counties, including Vinton County that managed to see a decline in the amount of manufacturing jobs that were available, especially after the recession took its toll on the economy. The number of manufacturing jobs that were available in Vinton County declined from a total of 573 during 2007 to 493 in 2011.