Third Quarter 2012 Jobs Top 16,800 as 211 Industrial Plants Become Operational in U.S.

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Jobs creation has been a hot button topic in the United States ever since the recession began and jobs started to disappear. That is especially true in 2012, which as an election year, magnifies the rhetoric around the jobs problem as well as the unemployment situation in the U.S. No matter what the talking heads spout about the jobs situation, jobs are created each and every quarter in the U.S. as manufacturing plants that were under construction, complete construction and open their respective doors for business. While the numbers of jobs created through this method is not ever massive, it is a steady source of potential employment for workers. Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2012, 211 manufacturing plants are currently scheduled to begin operations which will create an estimated 16,800 jobs during the quarter.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of plants and employment for 3Q12.

Two regions of the country are poised to benefit the most from the jobs creation efforts garnered by plants becoming operational in the third quarter: the Great Lakes and the Southwest. The Great Lakes region is currently expected to see forty plants open their doors during the coming quarter which will create an estimated 3,800 new jobs for the region, a region that was extremely hard hit during the recession and is in dire need of those new jobs. The Southwest region will see twenty-three new plants begin operations which will bring 3,500 new jobs to the region, a region where industrial expansion has been booming in the new post-recession world.

Five other regions will see in excess of 1,000 jobs created within their borders during the coming quarter as well. The Southeast region will open the doors on twenty-three new plants creating 2,800 new jobs while the Mid-Atlantic region will see approximately 1,800 new jobs created when twenty-one plants begin operations. The Rocky Mountains region is expected to see twenty plants begin operations which will create 1,500 jobs as well. The Midwest region and the West Coast region will combine to open over fifty new plants and create a total of just over 2,200 new jobs between them.

The Food and Beverage industry will be responsible for the largest number of plants to begin operations during the months of July, August or September with sixty-four plants opening their doors for the first time. These plants will create a much needed 2,400 new jobs for the industry. The Industrial Manufacturing industry will see the largest number of jobs gained within the twenty-seven plants that will begin operations with 8,100 new jobs being created. The Pharmaceutical & Biotech industry with twenty-two plants and 2,800 new jobs and the Metals & Minerals industry with eighteen new plants and 1,900 new jobs will also see some significant growth during the coming quarter.

With the shift many companies have made away from developing grassroot facilities and instead slowly expanding existing plants at a more gradual pace, new jobs have become tougher to come by. However, there remains a steady flow of facilities beginning operations each and every quarter. They may not be requiring as many new employees as they once did but they are a modest source of new job opportunities, a source that will not dry up in the foreseeable future. As the country as a whole slowly regains the jobs that were lost during the recession, the new plants will do their small part to help lower the overall unemployment rate each and every month.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.