Job Drain

Los Angeles is the largest manufacturing center in the country but that position is slipping as the region continues to lose jobs. That’s the latest news from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., which released a report that said the sector will continue to decline unless political leaders step in to help keep the businesses and the jobs. Los Angeles-area manufacturers shed 26,300 jobs in 2001 and another 19,400 job losses are expected for 2002, according to the report, which pegged current manufacturing jobs in the five-county area at 996,800. The apparel/textile industry, the region’s largest manufacturing industry, employs 107,000 workers.