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Milwaukee loses one-third of manufacturing jobs in 10 years

The Milwaukee metropolitan area has lost 54,800 manufacturing jobs over the last 10 years, the 15th-biggest drop among the largest 100 metros in the country, according to a new Business First of Buffalo analysis.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis metro area lost one out of every three manufacturing jobs in the past decade, dropping to a total of 110,200 in May 2010 from 165,000 in May 2000.

Ninety-eight of the nation's 100 biggest markets have fewer manufacturing jobs now than they did a decade ago. Six have lost more than 100,000 positions. Based on the percentage of manufacturing jobs lost, El Paso suffered the sharpest decline, losing 55.44 percent of its manufacturing jobs since 2000. Detroit was a close runner-up with a drop of 55.41 percent. Milwaukee ranked 51st in that regard with its 33.21 percent decline.

Only two of the 100 metros actually managed to increase their manufacturing employment. Bakersfield, Calif., added 1,800 manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010, a gain of 16.4 percent. Las Vegas added 100 positions, a gain of 0.5 percent. The 100 markets, taken as a group, lost 3.47 million manufacturing jobs over the decade, equaling a collective decline of 34.3 percent.