Strong infrastructure plan and trade enforcement needed
The economy's overall employment was up this month with the manufacturing sector gaining 14,000 jobs in June, according to the latest employment data from the Department of Labor.
Said Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul:
“This month’s jobs figures come as a mild relief after May’s dismal numbers, but while the overall economy grew, manufacturing and import-sensitive sectors in particular are still lagging behind.
“When our politicians gather in Cleveland and Philadelphia soon, I hope they’ll take a look around. It will be easy to see that America’s makers are still struggling. Steel and other industries in the manufacturing sector continue to feel the effects of global overcapacity, exports are being squeezed by the strong dollar, and last month’s Brexit will only increase these pressures.
“Washington has options when it comes to offsetting these effects. A domestic infrastructure rebuilding program, for instance, would boost the sector’s health. Manufacturers would also benefit from continued trade enforcement against subsidized imports, and action to deter and penalize currency manipulation. And the Fed certainly shouldn’t inflict any more pain by prematurely raising interest rates.”
The #AAMeter, which tracks President Obama's goal to create 1 million new manufacturing jobs, now sits at +333,000 jobs. That means there would need to be over 95,000 new manufacturing jobs created each month for Obama to hit his goal.