Midwest Manufacturing: Indiana Perspective

I have been doing a good bit of consulting work in Indiana lately. Here is a clip from any Indy Star article about manufacturing in Indiana and the Midwest.

Indiana job growth was smack in the middle last month when compared with its neighbors, new U.S. Department of Labor figures show.

Indiana gained jobs at a faster rate than Michigan and Ohio, both of which lost positions, but at a slower pace than Illinois and Kentucky.

However, a nagging problem remained common to all -- a flat manufacturing sector.
Stubbornly sluggish manufacturing job growth could slow the overall economy of the industrial Midwest, said George Erickcek, senior regional analyst at W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, an independent nonprofit in Kalamazoo, Mich.

"I'm not expecting the Midwest to really bounce back rapidly," said Erickcek, who believes the region will probably lag the national rebound.

More here.