Florida Now Top 10 in the Nation for Manufacturing Jobs, Surpassing New York
September 29th, 2023
By Megan Choutupalli - Florida Chamber of Commerce
Most recent job numbers show that Florida is now ranked #10 in the nation for manufacturing employment. There were 426,000 jobs in Florida’s manufacturing industry in August 2023, advancing Florida ahead of New York for employment in this sector.
Florida’s manufacturing industry plays a vital role in making Florida a top 10 global economy by 2030, and this month’s figures are a move in the right direction towards achieving our Florida 2030 Blueprint goal of being a top 5 state for manufacturing jobs. As Florida looks to surpass #9 North Carolina and ultimately have more manufacturing jobs than #5 Pennsylvania, we want to thank our Florida 2030 Blueprint Goal Leader FloridaMakes and FloridaCommerce for their work in helping to grow this vital sector.
As we look to the future of Florida’s manufacturing industry, let’s look at where it currently falls among all Florida industries.
As Florida rises in the rankings for manufacturing employment at the national level, the industry still makes up only a small portion of Florida’s overall labor market. Currently, the manufacturing sector employs 4.4% of all Florida workers.
GDP, or gross domestic product, is a measure of the size of an economy. Florida’s GDP currently sits at $1.47 trillion. The percentage of GDP each industry contributes to the overall economy can be considered the value added by that industry, and currently, manufacturing is contributing to 5% of Florida’s GDP.
While manufacturing is a relatively low share of employment and GDP, the industry boasts a higher GDP per capita than the all-industry average in Florida. GDP per capita is a figure that gives us insight into the productivity of an industry – it shows us how much is being contributed to the economy on average by each job in the sector.
As there still remains room for the manufacturing industry’s share of employment and value added to the economy to grow, the productivity in the sector shines a light on why this industry is so crucial. A high level of productivity in the industry presents an opportunity for manufacturing job growth to impact Florida’s economy in a significant way – highlighting the importance of growing Florida to a top 5 state for manufacturing jobs by 2030.
The “Manufacturing Jobs” metric has been updated on TheFloridaScorecard.org, reflecting this state-level data. Visit The Florida Scorecard today to see how Florida is moving towards the top 5 manufacturing jobs goal, and be sure to visit often to stay updated on hundreds of other metrics showing Florida’s progress towards becoming a top 10 global economy by 2030.
For regular updates on the metrics that matter to securing Florida’s future, we invite you to follow @FloridaBTN on Twitter.
