Unless you live in Modesto, Calif., chances are there are fewer manufacturing jobs in your area than just a few years ago.
The Business Journals, a collection of local business journalism publications, recently crunched the numbers and found that 99 of the top 100 labor markets have lost manufacturing jobs over the past few years.
Want to see how bad things are in your area? The publication’s On Numbers column includes a sortable database of the major metropolitan areas, which shows how many jobs were lost in each area between 2008 and 2011.
Not surprisingly, the big losers are also some of the biggest markets, including Los Angeles, which was the biggest loser with a net loss of 89,900 manufacturing jobs since 2008. L.A. was followed by New York City, Chicago and Detroit.
The recession has exacerbated a long-term loss of manufacturing jobs in America, with more companies replacing workers with technology or moving production work overseas.
Overall in the United States, there were about 11.7 million people employed in manufacturing jobs in May, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about two million fewer than when the recession began in December of 2007, although it’s actually slightly more than a recent low at the end of 2009.
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