Jefferson County’s weakening manufacturing sector took another hit Tuesday with the announcement that another one of its long-established companies laid off 10 percent of its work force.

Keith Manufacturing Co. let 25 employees go late Monday, according to a statement issued by Mark Foster, company president.

“Rising fuel and material costs, coupled with decreased sales, (made) cutbacks unavoidable,” Foster said in the statement.

The 60-year-old company makes hydraulic conveyor systems that move a variety of goods, including pallets, drums, ice, rolls and bales. The systems, sold internationally, are used in the refuse and recycling, automotive, ice, cotton, wood products, paper and other industries.

Keith has tried to become more efficient without laying off people, said Laura Crocker, media director for the company.

After the layoffs, the company has 195 jobs in Madras, Crocker said.

Keith also has warehouses with about 55 positions in Canada, Mexico, Spain and the Netherlands. No layoffs were announced for its foreign locations, Crocker said.

“We saw it on the horizon,” Crocker said “This was a very difficult decision to make as a company.”

Steel prices have increased 100 percent over the past year while aluminum prices have increased 26 percent over the last six months, according to Crocker. Both are key components in their products, Crocker said.

With the layoffs, Keith represents the latest in a series of job losses in the manufacturing sector of Jefferson County.

The county’s manufacturing sector has dropped 40 percent from 1,640 jobs in May 2006 to 1,000 jobs in May 2008, said Stephen Williams, regional economist for the Oregon Employment Department.

The industry constituted 25 percent of the county’s total jobs in May 2006 compared with 15.8 percent two years later, Williams said.

“Manufacturing has taken a large hit,” Williams said. “It’s down 23 percent over the year.”

The county’s unemployment rate in May was 8.7 percent, its highest May unemployment rate since 1983. In May 2007, its jobless rate was 6.1 percent.

Madras-based Bright Wood Corp., which makes various wood components, including door frames and window casings, cut 140 jobs in early 2007 and an additional 180 jobs in February.

The company and others have been hurt by the slumping U.S. housing industry and rising materials costs.

In April, Jefferson County wood products manufacturer Warm Springs Forest Products Industries laid off 57 workers, about half of its work force.

The city of Madras and Jefferson County are trying to raise money from private businesses to create a new position for a county economic development manager, said Eric Strobel, business development manager of Economic Development for Central Oregon, which promotes business growth in the region.

The position, which could begin as early as this fall, would be similar to the one created in Crook County last summer, and the manager would work to recruit businesses and jobs, Strobel said.