Every politician likes to talk about manufacturing, because it’s shorthand for decent, middle-class jobs. And it’s appropriate topic to talk about on Friday, since Oct. 3 has been dubbed “National Manufacturing Day” by President Barack Obama.
After talking about natural-gas production, the revival in the auto industry, and new high-tech hubs, this is what the president said on Thursday.
Today, American manufacturing has added more than 700,000 new jobs. It’s growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the economy.
And more than half of all manufacturing executives have said they are actively looking at bringing jobs back from China. That is basically the case — as long as you don’t naturally connect one sentence to the next.
After the September jobs data, there have been precisely 701,000 jobs added since the nadir in February 2010. As measured from the trough of the recession in the second quarter of 2009, gross output for manufacturing has gained 38%, compared to 23% for the broader economy.
But don’t conclude that manufacturing employment — which again, is really what most people want — is growing twice as fast. From February 2010 — Obama’s date, it should be highlighted — private-sector jobs have grown by 10%.
Manufacturing jobs have grown by 6% over that same time period. In September, the manufacturing sector added a meager 4,000 positions.
And that’s not a one-month anomaly — as a percent of total employment, it’s below 9% of the U.S. economy, and in September sunk to the worst on record. Economist Alan Tonelson has more data here.
Put another way — at the current rate, Obama will fall about 570,000 jobs short of his goal to create 1 million manufacturing jobs in his second term.
The lack of manufacturing jobs has helped keep wage growth meager — somewhere between 2% and 2.6%, depending which series is used.
marketwatch.com
After talking about natural-gas production, the revival in the auto industry, and new high-tech hubs, this is what the president said on Thursday.
Today, American manufacturing has added more than 700,000 new jobs. It’s growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the economy.
And more than half of all manufacturing executives have said they are actively looking at bringing jobs back from China. That is basically the case — as long as you don’t naturally connect one sentence to the next.
After the September jobs data, there have been precisely 701,000 jobs added since the nadir in February 2010. As measured from the trough of the recession in the second quarter of 2009, gross output for manufacturing has gained 38%, compared to 23% for the broader economy.
But don’t conclude that manufacturing employment — which again, is really what most people want — is growing twice as fast. From February 2010 — Obama’s date, it should be highlighted — private-sector jobs have grown by 10%.
Manufacturing jobs have grown by 6% over that same time period. In September, the manufacturing sector added a meager 4,000 positions.
And that’s not a one-month anomaly — as a percent of total employment, it’s below 9% of the U.S. economy, and in September sunk to the worst on record. Economist Alan Tonelson has more data here.
Put another way — at the current rate, Obama will fall about 570,000 jobs short of his goal to create 1 million manufacturing jobs in his second term.
The lack of manufacturing jobs has helped keep wage growth meager — somewhere between 2% and 2.6%, depending which series is used.
marketwatch.com
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