California’s drop in manufacturing jobs levels off

October 21, 2013

California lost 618,000 manufacturing jobs from 2001 to January 2013. A graph posted on the website of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association shows an almost year-by-year decline.

Losses stabilized late 2010 and the number of jobs has remained steady since.

There were two periods when job loss was the most severe: January 2001 to March 2002 there were about 210,000 jobs lost and from mid-2007 to Sept 2010 there was another decline of 300,000 jobs.

Mayor Eric Garcetti is among those who tout the Los Angeles region as the manufacturing capital of the U.S., as he made reference on Friday, October 18, 2013 to a Leaders Forum of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.

While this seems to be an empty boast in the face of declining figures, there are specific manufacturing segments that show promise.

In 2011, Los Angeles surpassed New York as the fashion manufacturing center in the United States. Current numbers top New York’s employment by more than 50,000 workers. That's according to the California Fashion Manufacturing Association.

examiner.com