Study: Reno manufacturing employment up

Employment by manufacturing companies

in Reno grew by 1 percent during the past year,

says a study by Manufacturers News Inc. of

Evanston, Ill.

The study was completed before

International Game Technology, the largest

manufacturing company in the state, laid off

about 300 workers from its Reno operation.

Manufacturing employment in Reno stood

at 10,547 in October, the publishing company

said. That represents about 10 percent of the

manufacturing jobs in the state.

Sparks accounts for another 5,357 manufacturing

jobs. Its manufacturing employment

fell by 3.4 percent since October 2007.

Statewide, manufacturing jobs increased by

291 about 0.5 percent year-over-year, the

Manufacturers News survey found.While the

growth rate is slowing,Nevada is one of a

handful of states to have posted consistent

gains in manufacturing employment in recent

years.

From 2006 to 2007, the Manufacturers

News study found a 1.4 percent increase in

industrial jobs in the state. From 2005 to 2006,

the growth rate was 4.1 percent.

Growing numbers of exports helped fuel

the growth in manufacturing employment, said

Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturer News.

He said the five-year growth of exports by

Nevada companies 182 percent ranked

second among U.S. states.

The state is home to 2,020 manufacturers,

ranging from giants such as IGT to small startups

with just a few employees, Dubin said.

Despite the slowdown in the gaming business

this year,makers of gaming equipment

posted a 5.7 percent growth in employment

since last October, the survey found.

Other fast-growing sectors included signmakers

and advertising specialties companies,

which posted a 3.7 percent gain in employment.

The manufacturing sectors which lost jobs

were led by transportation equipment companies,

which reported an 11 percent decline in

employment, and stone, glass and clay companies,

where employment declined by 7.3 percent

since October 2007.

Las Vegas, which accounts for more than 27

percent of Nevada's industrial employment, saw

a 1.4 percent decline in manufacturing jobs

during the last year.