Is America’s manufacturing sector on its way back? A recent survey from the Boston Consulting Group indicates that nearly 40 percent of U.S.-based manufacturing executives say they are either shifting some of their production back to the states from overseas, or are considering doing so. As recently as early 2012, a similar survey showed that more like 20 percent of manufacturing executives had those plans.
The manufacturing sector has a long way to go to get back to where it used to be. Employment in manufacturing reached a peak of 19.6 million in June 1979; it’s at just under 12 million at this point. Because of the overall growth of the economy, the percentage loss has been even greater, from 22 percent of all American jobs at the peak down to 8.8 percent now.
And those are good jobs that have been lost. The retail sector, which has added four times as many jobs as manufacturing since the end of the recession, pays its workers an average of $16.67 an hour, compared to $24.47 for manufacturing jobs.
No comments:
Post a Comment