Made in America
Last week's job report was good for fans of all things “made in America”. September showed that the US now has the largest manufacturing workforce since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, with 12.88m workers employed in the manufacturing industry.
If you felt like Amazon was your homepage during 2020/21 you’re not alone — buying habits shifted from services to goods as lockdowns kept us at home, boosting demand for physical goods (PCs were one beneficiary, see above). That came at a time when supply chains were already creaking, sending costs of international shipping soaring by 70%+, which made domestic production more attractive.
When we think of manufacturing jobs, it’s easy to think of heavy machinery, steel plants and sparks flying in huge factories. The reality is that, these days, many manufacturing jobs don’t look like that — the industry employment figures include growing sectors like pharmaceutical plants, craft breweries and ice-cream makers.
Back in my day
Readers with relatives who are prone to nostalgia won’t be surprised by the fact that, even with this modest resurgence, the modern manufacturing industry is unrecognizable compared to the 20th-century equivalent. Today less than 10% of private sector jobs are in manufacturing, compared to more than 40% after WWII. With automation coming for almost every industry (except making charts, fingers crossed), we're unlikely to get back to "the way things were" any time soon.
