Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021
Has manufacturing output in the US fallen with employment in that sector?
As a percent of the labor force, manufacturing employment has been falling since 1950, with the absolute number of jobs in manufacturing on the decline since 1979. However, manufacturing value-added in the U.S. (production minus cost of inputs) was higher at the end of 2019 than ever before. While international trade has played a role, automation of tasks once performed by people is the largest factor in the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs. In the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (Q2 2020), real-value added in manufacturing declined approximately 12% from the fourth quarter of 2019 but recovered and surpassed its pre-pandemic peak in the first quarter of 2021. Total manufacturing employment declined steeply in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic but has not recovered to its pre-pandemic totals.
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Sources
- EconoFact Trade and Jobs: Who Loses, Who Adapts and Who Pays?
- EconoFact AI, Public College, and the Changing Path to the Middle Class
- FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) Real Value Added by Industry: Manufacturing
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics Data
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