Encouraging signs emerging from Great Recession
01.01.70
Manufacturers are hiring in Spokane and selling goods across the globe, igniting hopes of an economic recovery.
From airplane parts to medical devices, cookware, pharmaceuticals and mining equipment, factories across the region are collecting contracts that square with the national trend of burgeoning productivity.
“We’re proof that the notion that America doesn’t make anything anymore is wrong,” said John Crow, owner of Lloyd Industries, which produces baking pans and cookware.
Even though manufacturers rely more and more upon automation and greater productivity from every worker, hiring is on the rise. In Spokane, for example, there were 15,325 people employed by manufacturing firms in December, the most since late 2009.
Across the state, manufacturing jobs grew by 17,600 in just the past year.
The modest gains have not necessarily dented the stubborn unemployment rate, which in Spokane County climbed back to 9 percent in December as government and retailers shed workers.
Source: The Spokesman Review