The Columbia Regional Business Report said industrial employment in South Carolina increased 2.3% over the past 12 months, according to a directory published by Manufacturers’ News Inc. The state gained 5,934 manufacturing jobs over the past year and is now home to 4,870 manufacturers employing 262,431 workers, data published in the 2013 South Carolina Manufacturers Register shows.
“South Carolina continues to see its manufacturing sector improve,” said Tom Dubin, president of the Evanston, Ill.-based publishing company. “Its reasonable labor costs and educated workforce have made it easier for manufacturers to do business, drawing major companies to the state.”
Industrial machinery is the state’s largest manufacturing sector by employment with 34,766 jobs, virtually unchanged from a year ago, the report said.
Transportation equipment manufacturing has overtaken textiles/apparel as the state’s second-largest sector following a 19% increase from continued hiring at Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner assembly plant in North Charleston and BMW Manufacturing’s facility near Greer.
The report shows Greenville as South Carolina’s top city for manufacturing employment with 23,885 jobs, up 4.8% over the past year. The Upstate city was followed by: Spartanburg, 14,656 jobs; North Charleston, 9,900 jobs; and Columbia, 9,604 jobs. Read More.
