A national manufacturing industrial directory calculates Missouri manufacturing has grown by a rate that is eleven times greater than the national average.
Manufacturers’ News, which calls itself the nation’s biggest publisher of industrial databases, calculates Missouri manufacturing jobs from August 20-12 to August 2013 grew by 1.1%, almost 3300 manufacturing jobs. The national average was one-tenth of one percent.
Company President Tom Dubin says the transportation equipment manufacturing industry rose by 1.4%, leading all industrial growth in Missouri, thanks largely to General Motors’ expansion in Wentzville and the Leggett & Platt parts plant expansion in Carthage.
But he says those expansions and the Ford expansion in Claycomo have fired up the small supplier job market, too. “These assembly plants need suppliers and they like them nearby,” he says. Dubin says those support industries should increase as the manufacturers step up their production.
Manufacturers’ News says Missouri has 7,876 manufacturers employing 366,877 people. It says the state’s central location and reasonable business costs make Missouri “a great place to do business.”
