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Manufacturing employment in Delaware inched up for the first time in three years, according to the 2017 Delaware Manufacturers Register.
The industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL.
According to MNI’s industrial database, manufacturers in Delaware added 303 new jobs between July 2015 and July 2016, a one percent gain.
Delaware’s 686 manufacturing companies employ 34,829 in the state.
“With its business-friendly environment combined with a skilled workforce, Delaware has a distinct advantage over other states in the Mid-Atlantic region,” says Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “However, aging infrastructure and global competition continues to challenge the state’s manufacturing sector.”
According to MNI, the top industries in Delaware saw little to no change in employment over the year. Food processing ranks first in the state, accounting for 8,978 jobs, virtually unchanged over the year.
The state’s second-ranked chemical processing sector also held steady, currently accounting for 8,572 jobs.
Jobs in Delaware’s medical instruments/measuring devices sector increased over the year, reports MNI, up 4.6 percent to 2,861.
Other Delaware industries gaining jobs included rubber/plastics, up 9.1 percent ; lumber/wood, up 4.7 percent ; textiles/apparel, up 4.1 percent; and electronics, up 3.5 percent.
MNI’s regional analysis shows gains were spread out across all three Delaware counties, with Kent County up 2 percent to 2,896 jobs, and New Castle and Sussex Counties each up one percent to 19,762 and 12,171 jobs, respectively.
City data shows Wilmington ranks first in the state for number of manufacturing jobs, with 7,870 workers, down 5.7 percent over the past year. Second-ranked Newark accounts for 5,849 jobs, up 8.8 percent.
