Manufacturing in the United States saw dark days in the later part of the last decade. The recession hit the working class hard, and production numbers had been dropping even before the financial crisis took place. Over the past several months, the manufacturing industry has seen improvements and people within the industry are optimistic. Some are going as far as calling this a manufacturing renaissance.
Over a period of four decades leading up to 2009, the United States lost 7.5 million jobs in the manufacturing industry. Since the low-point in 2009, manufacturing has become, “an area of strength in the American economy,” as noted in a 2012 NY Times article. A growth in employment is a good indicator that there is something to the notion that “Made-in-America” is on the comeback. In addition, over the past year major American companies have started to “reshore” production to the United States.
The Huffington Post reports that brands like Apple, General Electric, Master Lock and Caterpillar are moving production to America. These brands have also been accompanied by a prosperous auto industry, which has seen record high auto sales throughout this past summer. The auto manufacturers’ sales have surpassed figures from before the financial crisis, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The auto industry and other manufacturers moving production back to the United States is a good sign for the country as a whole. Healthy manufacturing means a healthy economy, along with greater employment opportunities for workers at all levels. The manufacturing renaissance is here and hopefully it will only get stronger from this point forward.