Washington, D.C. – Manufacturing gained 26,000 jobs in December, according to new figures released on Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the sector remains down 219,000 jobs since February 2020, it showed steady growth over the past year, gaining 349,000 total jobs in 2021.
Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said:
“Despite the myriad of challenges manufacturing has faced, factory employment made a nice gain in December and an impressive recovery in 2021.
“I am confident the United States will continue to gain factory jobs this year, so long as infrastructure is robustly implemented and reshoring trends continue. There’s a lot that policymakers can do to encourage this growth, including investing in America’s own competitiveness. At the same time, we need to hold China and other countries accountable on unfair trade practices.
“With the right policies in place, the U.S. can make a full factory employment recovery from the pandemic and continue to add manufacturing jobs in 2022.”
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