Michigan manufacturers added an estimated 2,000 total jobs in 2023, according to preliminary data released by the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Most manufacturing industries saw employment growth and the fabricated metal products manufacturing industry led the way with 2,600 jobs added.
A notable outlier was the transportation equipment manufacturing industry, which shed an estimated 4,400 total jobs over the course of 2023.
Transportation equipment manufacturing industry employment fell by an estimated 10,600 in October during the height of the UAW strike and has yet to fully recover.
Manufacturing job losses were primarily concentrated in the largest metros in the state led by Detroit (-3,900) and Grand Rapids (-1,900).
Kalamazoo and Muskegon paced Michigan metro areas in manufacturing employment growth with each metro’s manufacturing sector adding an estimated 300 jobs.
With active statewide manufacturing job postings down 45% in December from a year prior, it seems unlikely that we will see any major industry employment surges in the near future.
Author: Ryan Thyfault, Economic Analyst, Kinexus Group