Manufacturing employment in Idaho experienced a gain of 1.5 percent as it added 1,096 jobs from October 2011 to October 2012, according to the 2013 Idaho Manufacturers Directory, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers' News Inc. in Evanston, Ill.

This represents the first increase in Idaho since 2006. With this growth, Idaho now accounts for 2,152 manufacturers with 73,920 workers, MNI finds.

Idaho’s largest manufacturing sector by employments is industrial machinery and equipment with 15,331 jobs, a 1.7 percent decline, followed by food products manufacturing with for 14,883 jobs, down 3.3 percent, according to MNI. Meanwhile, lumber and wood comes in No. 3 with 8,808 jobs, marking an increase of 2.4 percent.