Manufacturing outlook: continued improvement in operating conditions.

• Author: Hayes, Steven W.
• Position: Statistical data

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Although the Great Recession officially ended in 2009, manufacturing in Montana continued declining through 2010, falling to fewer than 20,000 workers after the pre-recession level of nearly 24,000. However, both 2011 and 2012 revealed growth for Montana manufacturers, with annual sales increasing to more than $13 billion and employment topping 21,000 workers for the first time since the recession's end.

As shown in Table 1, six Montana counties--Yellowstone, Flathead, Gallatin, Missoula, Ravalli, and Cascade--can boast more than 1,000 manufacturing employees, and worker earnings of manufacturing employees exceed $100 million in the top three counties.

Virtually all sectors of Montana manufacturing lost employment during the recession, but most have turned upward since 2010, with the most rapid growth seen in fabricated metals in the primary and fabricated metals sector and computers and electronics. After losing 2,500 jobs from 2006 to 2010, the wood, paper, and furniture sector has grown modestly in the past year and remains the largest manufacturing sector in Montana by number of employees with more than 4,200 workers (Table 2). Worker earnings among manufacturing sectors are highest in the chemicals, petroleum, and coal component, which has seen rapid growth in employment as well as earnings during the past several years.

The BBER survey of Montana manufacturers indicates a continued improvement in operating conditions for Montana manufacturers in 2012 compared to 2011.

The Bureau conducts the manufacturing survey each year during November and December and queries manufacturers on a variety of business issues pertaining to both the year just completed and the outlook for the coming year. The results shown here are from the survey completed in December 2012. A total of 232 firms were contacted for this year's survey, including Montana's largest manufacturing facilities (as measured by the number of people employed), as well as smaller firms representative of their sectors. Of the firms contacted, 80 percent responded to the survey.

In 2012, 50 percent of manufacturers reported increased sales and increased production. Fewer than 25 percent reported decreases in sales and production in 2012, which was similar to 2011 when around 27 percent of responding Montana manufacturers reported decreases in sales and production. Profits increased for 42 percent of responding firms in 2012, up from 37 percent in 2011. However...