Manufacturing employment increased in Georgia for a fifth straight year, reports the 2016 Georgia Manufacturers Register, an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. Evanston, IL. According to data collected by MNI, Georgia manufacturers added 5,555 jobs from May 2014 to May 2015, an increase of 1.1%. “The double-digit growth of the state’s transportation equipment sector over the past several years is among the highest in the nation, while its large labor pool and business-friendly environment continue to fuel growth and attract investment in a variety of sectors.”

Manufacturers’ News reports Georgia is now home to 9,325 manufacturers employing 487,158 workers.

“Georgia’s industrial base has reinvented itself following the recession’s steep losses,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “The double-digit growth of the state’s transportation equipment sector over the past several years is among the highest in the nation, while its large labor pool and business-friendly environment continue to fuel growth and attract investment in a variety of sectors.”

Job growth was led by the transportation equipment sector, which climbed 6.2% over the year, overtaking industrial machinery as the state’s third largest sector by employment. MNI data shows employment in the industry rose 26% over the past five years, and currently accounts for 45,405 jobs.

The state’s first-ranked sector remains food processing, which also posted a gain, up 1% over the year. The food processing sector currently employs 69,091 Georgia workers. Jobs in the state’s long-ailing textiles/apparel sector remained steady over the year, with the industry still ranking second in the state with 53,119 jobs.

Gains were also reported in primary metals, up 6%; rubber/plastics, up 5.2%; and lumber/wood, up 4.1%.

MNI reports Atlanta posted a half percent increase over the year. Other Georgia cities gaining manufacturing jobs included Alpharetta, up 5% and Savannah, up 4.6%.