Michigan’s industrial employment is continuing its post-recession rebound, adding jobs for the second year in a row according to a report from CBS Detroit. A recent economic outlook study commissioned by AnnArbor.com showed that 2012 was the fourth-straight year the area added jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Much of the state has seen the most significant increase come in the manufacturing of transportation equipment like cars and trucks. The recent success of the “Big Three” automotive manufacturers has helped make up much of the 4.3 percent gain in the sector.

In Washtenaw County, by contrast, manufacturing expansion throughout the next three years is expected to take place outside the motor vehicle industry. According to forecast co-authors George Fulton and Donald Grimes, the largest manufacturing gains in the region will be in fabricated metal products and medical equipment and supplies.

According to the CBS report, which relied on numbers form Manufacturers News, Inc., Southeast Michigan accounts for the most industrial employment in the state with 378,278 jobs in the region with the Ann Arbor area accounting for about 14,000 of those jobs. However, Grand Rapids is the city with the most manufacturing jobs in the state with 41,715.

Things could get even better for Michigan next year, with Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors all planning expansions to plants that could mean hundreds of millions of dollars invested in factories across the state according to CBS. Fulton and Grimes predict that the Ann Arbor area's manufacturing gains will slow, but the industry should still add 712 jobs during the next three years.

• Read the full story from CBS Detroit here.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2