{"id":69949,"date":"2012-12-12T10:59:04","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T15:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=69949"},"modified":"2012-12-20T08:30:42","modified_gmt":"2012-12-20T13:30:42","slug":"connecticuts-manufacturing-report-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/12\/connecticuts-manufacturing-report-card\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut’s Manufacturing Report Card"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Connecticut<\/a>
Connecticut manufacturing is becoming increasingly high tech.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After decades of shedding factory jobs, manufacturing may seem just a vestige of Connecticut\u2019s economic past. Yet in the Winter 2013 issue of The Connecticut Economy <\/em>released today, UConn economist Steven Lanza issues a \u201creport card\u201d on manufacturing that presents the sector as among the most dynamic in the state\u2019s economy, transformed by advanced technologies linked to research and development that are providing a catalyst for economic growth.<\/p>\n

The resurgence of high-precision, highly skilled, and high-paying manufacturing employment reflects the \u201cchurn,\u201d or the process of firms appearing and disappearing as innovation spurs rapid changes to Connecticut\u2019s manufacturing profile, says Lanza, executive editor of The Connecticut Economy<\/em>, a quarterly journal published by UConn\u2019s Department of Economics. It also means, he adds, that the largely production-line jobs of the past aren\u2019t coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe factory floor isn\u2019t the noisy, grimy crucible it once was,\u201d he observes. \u201cManufacturing has become increasingly technologically advanced, requiring sophisticated machines and computers operated by highly trained and skilled workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Declining numbers, increased productivity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Factory jobs in Connecticut slumped from 477,000 in 1969 \u2013 accounting for about one-third of total employment in the state \u2013 to just 174,000, about 10 percent of jobs statewide, in 2011, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data. Yet the sector\u2019s decline has stabilized, Lanza claims, noting that job tallies for the past two years show Connecticut manufacturing employment remaining steady at about 165,000 workers.<\/p>\n

Despite the years of job declines, however, manufacturing always made outsized contributions to Connecticut\u2019s gross state product. The sector contributed 20 percent of the growth in the state\u2019s economic output in the decade ending in 2010, Lanza estimates, while boosting productivity \u2013 the value of manufactured goods per worker \u2013 by more than 50 percent from 1990 to 2007, with 35 percent fewer workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpanding output and falling employment [over that timeframe] combined to raise productivity per worker from $57,900 to $135,800, an impressive 134 percent increase,\u201d Lanza says. Enhanced productivity, in turn, also led to higher wages: in 2011, Connecticut factory workers \u2013 who are now more likely to have a graduate degree and wear a suit or lab coat to work \u2013 earned an average salary of $76,900, or 26 percent above the state\u2019s all-industry average of $61,100.<\/p>\n

Connecticut\u2019s manufacturing profile has also changed drastically; high-tech firms now produce more than 70 percent of the state\u2019s output with computer\/electronic products and chemicals accounting for more than 13 percent and 30 percent, respectively, of the total output in 2010. Lanza also details how the state is now a leader in the aerospace and defense-related transportation equipment field \u2013 largely in the production of aircraft engines, helicopters, and nuclear submarines \u2013 totaling 23 percent of the state\u2019s manufacturing output in 2010, compared with 20 percent in 1997.<\/p>\n

Unlike the sprawling smokestack factories of the past, the majority of today\u2019s manufacturers are small and mid-sized, reflecting the vibrant competitive opportunities in the state. Sustained growth in the sector has witnessed the creation of 290 small enterprises annually \u2013 most with fewer than five workers \u2013 a \u201cbirth rate\u201d of about 6 percent annually, says Lanza. However, death rates for smaller firms are higher too, at about 7.5 percent, he adds.<\/p>\n

To better assess Connecticut\u2019s manufacturing health, Lanza created an index to measure the sector\u2019s performance against other states and discovered Nutmeg manufacturers rank sixth nationwide, behind Oregon, Indiana, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Louisiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cConnecticut owes its high [rank] to impressive scores in employee compensation and a concentration in technological sophistication,\u201d says Lanza. \u201cThese attributes offer promise that the manufacturing industry will continue to be a cornerstone of the state\u2019s economy in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Connecticut Economy<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/em> is a quarterly journal published by the University of Connecticut\u2019s Department of Economics that offers data, forecasts, and substantive, data-driven analyses of current events, longer-term trends, and public policies affecting Connecticut\u2019s economy. The new Winter 2013 issue is available online at: http:\/\/cteconomy.uconn.edu\/TCE_Issues\/Winter_2013.pdf<\/a>. <\/em>To access the archives with past issues starting from 1993, please visit The Connecticut Economy <\/strong>website: http:\/\/cteconomy.uconn.edu\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manufacturing, despite a long decline, remains a vital part of the state’s economy and promises to play a key role in its future, according to a new report released today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":69801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076,1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[46],"class_list":["post-69949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 17:56:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69949"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70443,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69949\/revisions\/70443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/69801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69949"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=69949"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=69949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}