"Americans don't want to trade away good wages and secure jobs."
The Department of Labor reported this morning that America's manufacturing sector added 1,000 jobs in April.
The #AAMeter, which tracks President Obama's promise to create 1 million new manufacturing jobs in his second term, increased to +376,000 jobs, after revisions to previous months' data.
Said Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul:
“Manufacturing has been treading water since January, and that’s not good enough. The strong dollar and a surge of imports are taking a toll on factory jobs.
“As President Obama speaks on trade today, remember this: Americans don’t want to trade away good wages and secure jobs. Today’s numbers show we still have plenty of challenges in our economy, and a scarcity of imported athletic footwear isn’t among them.”
New Poll: Nine in 10 Voters Want Congress to Prevent Currency Manipulation in International Trade Deals
Voters repudiate the argument that Obama is expected to make in a speech at Nike’s headquarters in Oregon on Friday about the consumer benefits of free trade. Eight in 10 Americans favor protecting manufacturing jobs over gaining access to more imported goods.
Paul added: “While President Obama is essentially glorifying a model of offshoring at Nike, he’s completely ignoring currency manipulation, even though many economists believe that addressing currency manipulation could unleash job creation and lower our trade deficit.”
The #AAMeter: During his re-election campaign, President Obama set a goal of creating 1 million new manufacturing jobs in his second term. The Alliance for American Manufacturing continues to track the president's progress via our monthly manufacturing jobs tracker, the #AAMeter, based on monthly jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.