Any Questions?
March 2016 = 8.6 %
Link to FRED site for this chart
Speaking of Precision Blog
Sensemaking for the precision machining industry
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Miles FreeWelcome to our blog, Speaking of Precision. As Director of Technology and Industry Research for PMPA, I bring 38 years of hands-on experience in areas of manufacturing, quality and steelmaking. I help answer "HOW?","WITH WHAT?" and "REALLY?"
Speaking of Precision Blog
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Here’s one.. what are you trying to prove? A decline in the number of manufacturing jobs?.. O.k… that’s like saying the sun comes up in the East.
Overlay this graph with the output per employee and you’ll see the impact of productivity gains (carbide, CNC, Robotics, etc..), as well as, the shift of manufacturing jobs from US to overseas. Please post a chart of the number of mfg jobs in the US since 2010 and you’ll see something more impressive as we’re making gains in spite of currency manipulation / tariffs / barriers of entry. All accomplished without a national focus on manufacturing centric training, policies, or favorable public perception of manufacturing as a career.
Keep in mind that in the late 40’s & 50’s, nobody else was making anything in the world as WWII destroyed most of the capacity not located in the U.S or Russia. We (US) literately had a disproportionate amount of work as the rest of the world was rebuilt using newer equipment. What could anyone reasonably think was going to happen as there was only one direction to go.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment Tom. I guess that what I am saying is that for all intents and purposes there is tepid at best recovery. Picking the bottom of the recession as your baseline and then being ecstatic over the delta is a weak analysis. If you look at the chart at this link, http://econintersect.com/pages/releases/release.php?post=201507060928
you will see that we have only recovered less than four million jobs compared to employment in Year 2007 prior to the recession. 4 million jobs over ~72 month period doesn’t get me excited at all- 55,000 jobs a month?
I agree with you regarding the productivity improvements etc since the Eisenhower Administration. What I don’t get is the optimism over our current “recovery.” 4 million jobs added since 2010? Hardly a significant percentage of the population.