Report: Kansas Missing Out on Manufacturing Job Growth

A new report finds Kansas is missing out on the manufacturing employment growth the nation is experiencing.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors released its findings Tuesday. The group says Kansas saw a 0.9 percent decline in manufacturing employment between June 2014 and 2015, losing about 1,400 manufacturing jobs. During that same period, the nation saw 1.3 percent growth in manufacturing, adding 160,000 jobs.

Dan Lara, of the Kansas Department of Commerce, said in an e-mail that the general aviation sector continues to lag behind. Lara says the state lost 39,000 manufacturing jobs during the recession and has only gained back about 4,000 of them.

As of June, the state has about 162,300 manufacturing jobs, 10.2 percent less than it had 10 years ago.