Job losses in Hawai'i's manufacturing sector slowed last year, an industry trade publication reported yesterday.

The number of manufacturing jobs shrank by 1.7 percent to 25,480 between December 2006 and December 2007, down from a 5.6 percent decline the year before, according to the 2008 Hawaii Manufacturers Directory. The directory is published annually by Manufacturers' News Inc. based in Evanston, Ill.

MNI said a total of 15 manufacturing companies shut down and 444 workers in the sector lost their jobs in Hawai'i last year.

"The fact that much of Hawai'i's industry stems from its vast natural resources makes it less vulnerable to the outsourcing many other states have seen," said Tom Dubin, president of the group that has been surveying U.S. industry since 1912.

Hawai'i ranked last in the nation for number of manufacturing plants, and 46th for industrial jobs, above North Dakota, Alaska and Delaware, according to MNI.

Hawai'i's manufacturing companies are generally on the smaller side, with 57 percent of the state's manufacturers employing five or fewer workers, compared to the national average of 34 percent.

Jobs in food manufacturing, which account for the most industrial jobs in Hawai'i, fell 7.6 percent last year to 9,811. Jobs in the printing/publishing sector rose 17 percent to 3,857, and textiles/apparel jobs rose 3.9 percent to 2,687.

On O'ahu, manufacturing employment fell 2.2 percent to 19,910, on the Big Island it rose 2.3 percent to 2,724, on Maui it fell 4 percent to 2,076, and on Kaua'i it rose 3.7 percent to 770.