For a fourth straight year, industrial employment in Georgia posted a gain, reports the 2015 Georgia Manufacturers Register, a manufacturers database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. According to data collected by MNI, Georgia manufacturers added 3,833 industrial jobs, a 1% increase, from May 2013 to May 2014.

Manufacturers’ News reports Georgia is now home to 9,802 manufacturers employing 486,233 workers.

“Manufacturers in Georgia are making large strides, particularly in the transportation equipment industry,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “The state’s low business costs and top-notch infrastructure continue to draw investment and support industrial growth.”

According to Manufacturers’ News, gains were led by the state’s transportation equipment industry, which posted a 3.3% employment increase over the year. Georgia’s transportation equipment sector has risen 17% since 2009, according toMNI, and currently ranks third in the state for industrial employment with 43,615 jobs. 

Bright spots for the sector include Trinity Industries’ plans to open a railcar manufacturing plant in Cartersville; the expansion of Kia supplier Hanil E Hwa in LaGrange; the establishment of Mando’s auto parts factory in Meriweather; the opening of a Pratt & Whitney jet engine facility in Columbus; and the expansion of Gulf Stream Aerospace in Savannah. 

Food products accounts for the most industrial employment in Georgia with 69,739 jobs, though employment was unchanged in this sector over the year. 

Employment in textiles/apparel posted a loss of 2.7%, due partially to the closure of Crystal Springs Print Works in Chickamauga. Textiles/apparel ranks second in the state, employing 54,570. 

Other industries in Georgia adding jobs included paper products, up 3.5%; industrial machinery and equipment, up 3.2%; electronics, up 2.6%; fabricated metals, up 2.2%; and instruments/related products, up 2.1%. MNI recorded losses in primary metals, down 7%; stone/clay/glass, down 6.7%; printing/publishing, down 5.1%; and furniture/fixtures, down 1.6%. 

MNI reports Northwest Georgia accounts for the most industrial employment in the state with 297,200 jobs, up 1% over the past twelve months. Northeast Georgia accounts for 74,276 jobs, up a half percent, while the Southeast region is home to 40,589 industrial workers, up 2.4%. South Central Georgia accounts for 40,382 jobs, down 1.7%, and the Southwest accounts for 33,786 jobs, with no change reported.

Manufacturing companies in Atlanta employ 57,169 workers, down 2.6% over the year. Dalton industrial jobs rose 1.6%, with the second-ranked city home to 21,709 jobs. Norcross accounts for 18,414 manufacturing jobs, up 1.9%, while Alpharetta employment rose 1.2%, with the city home to 17,311 jobs. Manufacturing employment in Savannah climbed 8.5%, with the city now ranking fifth in the state with 15,789 jobs.