Manufacturing Sector Adds +17,000 Jobs in December: AAM Statement

Tags Jobs

Manufacturing sector gains +186,000 jobs in 2014. 

The Department of Labor reported this morning that America’s manufacturing sector added 17,000 jobs in December. Manufacturing gained 186,000 jobs and accounted for 6.4 percent of all job growth in 2014.

The #AAMeter, which tracks President Obama’s promise to create 1 million new manufacturing jobs in his second term, ticks to +283,000 jobs.

Commented Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul:

Manufacturing job growth slowed to 17,000 in December, which portends some of the challenges an overly strong dollar, weak global demand, and high goods trade deficits may bring in 2015. While President Obama is touting factory job gains and our Congressional leaders are looking for ways to rebuild the middle class, what's missing for manufacturing is good policy.

Congress and the president need to hold China and Japan accountable for currency manipulation and mercantilism, and invest in our infrastructure. New innovation institutes are a good thing, but their presence alone won't bring manufacturing back. And as the president enters the final half of his second term, he's falling way behind his goal to create one million new manufacturing jobs.

With a recent trip to Michigan touting “America’s manufacturing resurgence,” these numbers show the president still has work to do. The president is now halfway through his second term, yet he is just a fourth of the way to his goal of creating 1 million new manufacturing jobs.

The #AAMeter: During his re-election campaign, President Obama set a goal of creating 1 million new manufacturing jobs in his second term. AAM 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.

###