A new definition of the Cape Girardeau County industrial neighborhood has resulted in some big changes in manufacturing labor statistics in Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

Manufacturers' News Inc., headquartered at Evanston, Ill., which researches information and publishes the annual Missouri Manufacturers Register, shifted one of the county's top employers, Procter & Gamble Paper Products Inc. from the Cape Girardeau city totals to the Jackson totals.

"We knew this change was coming for the 1995 register," Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce President John Mehner said. "And, although it may alter city employment totals, we're just glad P&G is in our area."

Lea Kalas, director of communications for Manufacturers' News couldn't explain the reason for the change, saying only that the company's researchers showed P&G at Jackson.

The P&G plant is north of Cape Girardeau and east of Jackson.

With inclusion of P&G employment totals, Jackson moved to 25th among Missouri cities in manufacturing jobs, increasing from 1,328 in 1994 to 3,234 in 1995, a total increase of 1,906 workers.

P&G employs about 1,300 people. Another 550 jobs were added to Jackson employment figures when Lee-Rowan Co. moved its St. Louis Division to Jackson during 1994.

Cape Girardeau dropped a few notches in the standings, from fourth on the 1994 list to 13th on the 1995 list.

"Manufacturing jobs increased by more than 600 in the city," said Mehner, explaining that due to the shift of 1,300 P&G workers, the city came up on the minus side.

The Cape Girardeau city totals show 4,610 manufacturing jobs in 1995, compared to 5,277 in 1994, 667 fewer jobs.

Overall, the number of Missouri manufacturing plants increased by 12.3 percent during the past year, gaining 1,438 plants and losing 357 to mergers, movement out of state and closings, realizing a net gain of 1,081 plants, brought the number of manufacturing facilities to 9,813.

St. Louis is the state's largest industrial city with 2,141 plants. Kansas City, with 915 plants, is second on the list and Springfield, with 392 plants is third.

Rounding out the top five manufacturing cities are Fenton, with 166 plants and Joplin, with 161 plants.