Iowa factory employment rises in 2015

Employment at factories in Iowa increased this year, according to the 2015 Iowa Manufacturers Register, an industrial database and directory.

Iowa manufacturers added 2,204 jobs from February 2014 to February 2015, a 1 percent increase. The gains were led by the industrial machinery and fabricated metals sectors.

Employment in industrial machinery manufacturing rose 3.4 percent over the period, and employment in the fabricated metals sector climbed 2.9 percent. The chemicals sector also posted a gain, up 12.4 percent, as did electronics, up 10.3 percent, and transportation equipment, up 6.5 percent.

The state's top industry by employment - food processing - posted a 1.1 percent decline following the closing of a Tyson Foods plant in Cherokee and Advance Pierre Foods in Orange City.

Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturers' News, said in a news release that food processing employment may rebound with the opening of Iowa Premium Beef in Tama and the $9 million expansion of Smithfield's meat processing plant in Sioux City.

Other food processors announcing expansions in Iowa include Barilla in Ames and Swiss Valley Farms' cheese plant in Luana.

Iowa is home to 5,291 manufacturers employing 269,067 workers, according to Manufacturers' News.

Industrial employment in Iowa has risen 4 percent since February 2011, recovering 41 percent of the jobs lost during the recession, but lagging behind the 5.8 percent national average increase reported by the Labor Department for the same time period.

Cedar Rapids recorded a 4.9 percent increase over the year and ranks as Iowa's largest city by manufacturing employment with 21,085 jobs. Manufacturing employment also rose 1 percent in Davenport but declined 3.8 percent in Dubuque and slipped 1.6 percent in Des Moines.

Dubin said Iowa could benefit from greater workforce initiatives as many manufacturing positions go unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers.