Manufacturing jobs are back, except in states like Massachusetts
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Employment in U.S. manufacturing has exceeded pre-pandemic levels — just not in Massachusetts.
Why it matters: Manufacturing jobs are the latest example of how Massachusetts is losing to lower-cost Sun Belt cities.
Driving the news: Massachusetts lost more than 7,000 manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2023, a nearly 3% drop, per an analysis of government data from the Economic Innovation Group, a centrist think tank.
The big picture: This is the first time since the 1970s that the U.S. manufacturing industry has recovered all the jobs lost during a recession, per EIG's analysis.
- Yes, but: Just five states accounted for two-thirds of the sector's job growth: Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and Utah.
- "If we look at population numbers or just total job growth, most of these places in the Sun Belt are just kind of hotbeds for where people are moving to and where companies are adding jobs," says August Benzow, research lead at EIG.
Between the lines: Massachusetts-based manufacturers surveyed last year by the state listed several challenges limiting growth, including the availability of skilled workers, difficulty finding new customers and the cost of living.
The Healey administration is issuing grants, building pipelines for school children and making other changes to help bolster the manufacturing industry, especially in emerging areas like 3D printing.
- But the results from those grants and talent pipelines could take years to materialize.