Missouri outpacing US in manufacturing employment growth

Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Wednesday, July 19, manufacturing employment in the state has grown 5.7% since March 2020, generally acknowledged as the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figure is notably higher than national growth of 1.6% over the same period.

Long term, Missouri has added 30,000 new net jobs in manufacturing between 2010 and 2022, according to Ted Abernathy, managing partner of Economic Leadership LLC.

"The change in manufacturing jobs over the last 12 years has been a real resurgence that not a lot of people were predicting," Abernathy said. "We've seen a manufacturing renaissance that we think is just going to get stronger as we go forward."

"Many people still have an antiquated idea of what manufacturing looks like," said Dan Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber. "Today's manufacturing jobs are some of the most high-tech and high-paying. Missouri's heritage was built on making things, and we are excited to see our state take the lead in bringing these opportunities back."

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