To be a great nation with a great economy requires being a nation that makes things. That means being a manufacturing economy, an industrial economy, an economy that builds, that innovates, that produces.
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The United States now has some more good news about our journey back to being a production economy; in May, the country added over 7,000 manufacturing jobs, and that’s a great thing.
The manufacturing industry added 7,000 jobs in May, regaining its footing after a lull in April, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday.
That’s about a 164% increase over the same time last year, which showed 11,000 job cuts. However, month over month, it’s a 100% improvement from April’s adjusted job data count, which is now at 0. The BLS initially reported 2,000 jobs were cut.
The latest employment data mirrors sentiments from the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers’ Index May report. The employment index remained in contraction, registering at 48.6%, an improvement over April, according to the ISM. An employment index registering above 50.3% over time is generally consistent with increases in BLS manufacturing employment data, per the ISM.
What’s more, the report released some interesting notes on just where these increases are taking place.
Read More: New May Jobs Report: Payrolls Jump 172K, Unemployment Steady
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Specifically, it seems to be in tech, manufacturing, and transportation.
Of the six major manufacturing sectors, only transportation equipment, computer and electronic products, and machinery reported higher levels of employment in May, said Susan Spence, chair of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, in a statement.
Additionally, nine out of 18 manufacturing sectors reported employment growth in May, whereas five sectors — food, beverage and tobacco products; chemical products; fabricated metal products; miscellaneous manufacturing; and textile mills — reported a decrease in employment.
So, an increase, but a rather narrow one. That’s interesting, but the increases are in transportation equipment, which is surprising given today’s transportation costs. Computers and electronics are pretty much a growth sector all the time, but perhaps more so now with the advent of AI and the concomitant development of huge data centers. And machinery of all kinds, of course, is at the heart of any industrial economy.
On Friday, we noted the jobs report for May also showed some cautious good news:
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The sectors mentioned that saw most of the growth were leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care. Health care is no surprise. With our aging population, that’s going to be a growth field for years to come. Leisure and hospitality is a slight surprise, with high fuel costs starting to bite into the summer travel season.
What would have been great to see is more growth in manufacturing. We’ve been reporting on new and expanding U.S. manufacturing sites and facilities, but those things take time to bring online.
Now, perhaps, we’re starting to see manufacturing pick up.
We have a way to go yet. But right now, this is positive news, indicating that America is becoming, again, a country that makes things. Let’s keep it up.
You can view the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data here.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.
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