Memphis Business Journal
Tennessee has lost the more manufacturing jobs in the last year than it has in the past 12 years, according to the 2010 Tennessee Manufacturers Register.
The report states Tennessee has lost 41,537 manufacturing jobs since September 2008, compared to 15,110 of jobs lost between September 2007 and September 2008.
Since 2001, when the state had 547,494 manufacturing jobs, Tennessee has lost 26.4 percent of those workers, giving the state 403,030 manufacturing employees.
Tennessee has a total of 7,711 manufacturers, with transportation equipment being the highest employment sector in manufacturing.
Those jobs have dropped 20.6 percent in the last two years because of the closure of Peterbilt Motors Madison plant, which affected 2,000 workers, and layoffs at Nissan's Smyrna facility.
“As with the entire nation, the recession continues to hit Tennessee's core sectors, while the faltering housing market has affected industries such as wood products, furniture and building products,” Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturers News, said in a statement.