“If U.S. manufacturing were a country by itself, it would be the eighth largest economy in the world.”
Guest post by Patrick McKenna, Vice President, Nevada Heat Treating, Inc.
It happens to me fairly often. I’ll be at a party, or out to dinner with a group of people, and after someone in the group finds out I’m employed in manufacturing they will say “it’s really a shame that nothing is made in the U.S. anymore.”
It happened to me again last weekend. So I decided to look into the topic a bit more. I know we still make “things” here in the United States. I see it on a daily basis. Just how true is their comment that manufacturing has vanished in the U.S.?
I performed a little research on the topic and found the following statements in NAM’s (National Association of Manufacturers) “The Facts about Modern Manufacturing” 8th Edition (www.nam.org).
“Between 1947 and 2008, both manufacturing GDP and overall GDP rose over sevenfold. It is generally unnoticed that the quantity of manufactured goods has continued to grow, leaving many people with the incorrect notion that little domestic value is produced in the United States anymore.”
“Manufacturing production is now at the highest point in its history and is keeping pace with that of the overall economy in terms of physical output.”
“…the quantity of manufactured goods produced in the United States has kept pace with overall economic growth since 1947, as both GDP and manufacturing have grown by about seven times.”
“Over the last ten years ending in 2008, manufacturing value added has increased 22 percent.”
“Total manufacturing activity in the United States—measured in terms of physical output—continues to grow.”
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Is the U.S. manufacturing sector still facing challenges? Yes
Has China gained market share of the global manufacturing sector? Yes
Does U.S. manufacturing face increased pressure from legislation? Yes
