Manufacturing Jobs Are Down, But The Overall Sector Is Booming
When Donald Trump says “we don’t make our product anymore” and “we’ve given it up,” he’s grossly exaggerating—but there is some truth to his claims about US manufacturing.
There are far fewer manufacturing jobs in the US than there used to be, with employment in the sector down almost 40% from its 1979 peak largely thanks to outsourcing, CNN reports. Yet it’s also true that several industries are booming and producing record output at US plants, and some foreign companies are building and expanding their US plants. Also, e-commerce demand and increased tech advancemetns continue to impact industrial distribution strategies and the configuration of supply chains, often resulting in fewer human jobs, but higher output.
"We produce more today than we ever have," says National Association of Manufacturers chief economist Chad Moutray. "We made $2.1 trillion worth of products in 2015. There are sectors doing really well." One of those sectors is aircraft production, where US production is at a record high and above levels seen in the rest of the world. [CNN]
