Manufacturing Still on Top Despite Job Loss

Los Angeles County remains the nation’s top manufacturing center despite a loss of more than 9,000 jobs last year, according to a report by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. released Tuesday. The county averaged 462,300 manufacturing jobs in 2006, outpacing the 390,200-job average in Chicago and 268,800 jobs in Detroit. Manufacturers face competitive pressures from overseas production and are wooed by other states pointing out the high cost of doing business in California, the study said. Industrial land, used for motion picture production, printing and publishing, remains at a premium in Southern California as it is converted into mixed-use commercial and residential projects, the study found. “With the tight real estate market, many industrial firms are nervous that they will soon get significant increases in their lease rates, or, worse yet, have their building sold out from under them,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the LAEDC, in a statement. “Either event could be devastating.”