New data from the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of Manufactures rank Ohio in the top three states for manufacturing employment, behind California and Texas.
The number of Ohioans working in manufacturing has risen each year since the Great Recession ended. Employment peaked in 2015 at about 650,000. Last year it dropped by 10,000. But the state still leads manufacturing employment in the Midwest. Nationally, Ohio ranked 17th in terms of employment growth since 2010. Employment grew 10 percent during that time.
Ohio also ranks third in the U.S. in annual wages for production workers. Since recovery from the Great Recession began, manufacturing wages in Ohio grew 22 percent. Last year, workers collectively earned more than $22 billion.