North Carolina gained manufacturing jobs for a seventh year in a row, according to IndustryNet's survey of the state's 9,702 manufacturers.
The two charts below provide additional insight into North Carolina's manufacturing sector. The first is a snapshot of the state's industrial climate, including growing industries and regions. The ten-year growth chart shows exactly how much North Carolina has grown since the recession, but also reveals how low the state's manufacturing employment levels are compared to pre-recession employment:
Taking a closer look at this data reveals job gains during this period were primarily led by the transportation equipment sector, which has steadily outpaced many of North Carolina's traditional sectors in terms of job growth. The chart below compares job growth in the transportation equipment sector to losses in the textiles/apparel sector.
At the start of the recession, the textiles/apparel sector employed nearly double the amount of workers than the transportation equipment sector. Fast forward to 2017 and that gap has narrowed so significantly, it looks as though transportation equipment will soon overtake textiles as the state's third-largest industrial sector by number of jobs:
For a more in-depth analysis of North Carolina's manufacturing sector, including year-by-year look at growth since the recession, see our latest report: Inside North Carolina's manufacturing boom.
