YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A new report issued by the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association shows the state’s manufacturing sector was hit hard by the pandemic in 2020, but still remains a vibrant part of the nation’s economy.
According to the 2022 edition of “Ohio Manufacturing Counts,” Ohio in 2020 was the third-largest employer in the country’s manufacturing sector, employing a monthly average of 653,028 people, or 5.4% of total manufacturing jobs in the United States.
California boasted the most manufacturing jobs with 1.2 million and Texas was second with 867,803 jobs.
Still, manufacturing employment in Ohio in 2020 was down 6.8% compared to 2019, the report said, emphasizing the impact COVID-19 had on the job market. In 2019, the state recorded 700,786 jobs in manufacturing.
Ohio’s largest manufacturing employer is Honda Motor Co. Ltd., with 14,100 employees, the report shows. Whirlpool Corp. ranked second in the sector with 11,079, Proctor & Gamble Co. ranked third with 11,000, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. fourth with 9,800 workers and General Electric Co. fifth with 9,410 employees.
According to the report, Ohio ranked fourth in the country when it came to gross domestic product in the manufacturing sector, producing $105.3 billion worth of goods in 2020. In 2019, the state ranked third with $107.9 billion in GDP.
Ohio also exports more than $45 billion annually in manufactured goods to 209 countries and territories. The state is ranked the seventh-highest exporter in the country, citing industrial machinery as its top export.
Most manufacturers in Ohio are small businesses that employ fewer than 10, the study found. The report shows that 46% of all manufacturers in the state have less than 10 employees; 16% employ between 10 and 19; 17% have between 20 and 49 workers; 9% employ between 50 and 99; 11% employ between 100 and 499; and 1% boast between 500 and 999 employees.
Less than half of 1% of manufacturers in Ohio report employing 1,000 or more people.
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