Minnesota's manufacturing, like nation's, continues to improve

Minnesota supply managers enjoyed their 20th consecutive month of improvements to new orders, sales, production, inventories and employment in March despite slight declines seen in other parts of the Midwest.

Creighton University's Business Conditions Index report showed that Minnesota's upbeat results tracked those seen across much of the nation.

In a separate report Friday, the Institute for Supply Management reported national survey results showing economic improvement for the 22nd consecutive month and at a pace close to a seven-year high. The March was little changed at 61.2, after February's 61.4 reading that was the highest since May 2004.

Fifteen out of 18 manufacturing sectors reported growth that was significantly above the neutral level.

"Manufacturing is doing very well," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Mass. "It's the leading sector in the economy."

In Minnesota, the Creighton University report noted economic improvement across all aspects of manufacturing, even though the state has a way to go before reaching pre-recession levels.

For the nine-state mid-America region, overall confidence remains high, despite a very slight decline in growth for March.

Employment gets stronger

Economics professor and report author Ernie Goss noted that employment across the Midwest continued to get stronger. The regional employment index grew for a 15th month, reaching "a very healthy" 60.3 in March from 58.3 in February. Goss noted that only 10.7 percent of firms reported reductions in employment, compared with 31.3 percent reporting that they'll add workers during the month.

For Minnesota, the March employment index was 58.7. Minnesota's other indexes were impressive: 80.2 for new orders; 72.3 for production/sales; 66.5 for delivery lead time, and 61.9 for inventories.

"Over the past year, Minnesota has recovered approximately 12 percent" of the 140,000 jobs lost during the recession, Goss said. "Our surveys over the past several months indicate that by the end of the first quarter of 2012, Minnesota's employment level is projected to be approximately 70,000 jobs below its pre-recession level."