Within the past year, Maine has seen a decrease of about 1.8% of its industrial employment. This information was released by the 2012 versions of the Maine Manufacturers Register. The directory, which is released once a year, is published by the Manufacturers’ News Incorporation, commonly known as the MNI. The report shows that the state of Maine lost nearly 1,281 jobs within the span of a year, from December of 2010 through December of 2011. This means that Main lost more jobs between 2010 and 2011 than it did during the span of 2009 through 2010. As of right now, there are about 2,230 manufacturing companies in Maine, with about 66,627 employees working within this sector.

The President of the publishing company, Tom Dubin, believes that there are a number of reasons why there has been a decrease within the industrial employment in Maine. Dubin believes that economic issues and uncertainty, along with other types of competition, have definitely decreased the need for manufacturers in the area. Dubin points out that while there was a decrease in overall manufacturing/industrial employment, some of the different industrial areas have managed to see an increase. These areas include electronics, paper products, and food as well. Dubin hopes that this is a trend that will keep on going, helping to add jobs and increase employment within the area within the next few years.

There was some good news for the state of Maine as well. L.L. Bean had recently made an announcement about hiring new employees for its Brunswick plant because of the increasing popularity of its duck boot, which has been around for quite a while has become popular once again. And, the owner of the Bushmaster Firearms, located in Windham, made an announcement about opening up Windham Weaponry Inc., which would be a rifle manufacturing plant located in the same area.

The MNI also reported that transportation equipment seems to be the biggest sector for industrial employment, with over 9,500 jobs available. The sector has gone unchanged within the span of year. The second biggest sector was food products, which accounted for 7,363 of the manufacturing jobs in the state. It was down by 1.7% but still relatively high. The third biggest sector for industrial employment was paper products, which also saw a decrease but still has 6,886 jobs available within the state.

There were some industrial locations that were, unfortunately, in the process of closing down. These locations include the Maine Industrial Tire Facility, located in Gorham, as well as the Portland Valve’s site in South Portland.

Some of the other sectors in the industrial industry that lost jobs within the span of a year included lumber/wood, fabricated metals, electronics, and stone/glass. Gains included industrial machinery and equipment, along with textiles.