PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As Rhode island's manufacturing industry has shifted from traditional manufacturing techniques to advanced processes, manufacturing pay has risen while the number of people working in the industry has plummeted.
In 2001, average yearly earnings in manufacturing was $36,801, according to the state Department of Labor and Training. By 2011, that had risen 38 percent to $50,827, keeping ahead of inflation.
But, over the same decade, the number of jobs in manufacturing plummeted 40 percent, from 67,580 to 40,354, according to the department's Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
During that time period, manufacturing fell from being the leading employer in Rhode Island to fifth, following health care, government, retail trade and hospitality.
This video from the R.I. Manufacturers Association touts a "manufacturing renaissance" in Rhode Island: