Pennsylvania Looking for Answers to Manufacturing Slide

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said this week in a conference on manufacturing in his state that reviving the manufacturing sector is a top priority because manufacturing is the backbone of the state's economy, accounting for the largest share of economic output and producing the jobs with the best wages and benefits.

Rendell, in his opening remarks, was blunt about the condition of Pennsylvania's manufacturing sector: "Pennsylvania has a manufacturing crisis, and that is an understatement," the governor said. "For 43 consecutive months, we have lost manufacturing jobs. We've lost a total in those 43 months of 133,000 jobs." Only five states -- California, Texas, Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina -- have lost more manufacturing jobs than Pennsylvania over the past three years, Rendell said.

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