National News: Manufacturing Is "Leading" the U.S. Economic Recovery

MSNBC.com reported that the recession has eliminated more than 2 million American manufacturing jobs, and many of the goods consumers buy in big-box stores are made outside the U.S. "Yet even as countless U.S. companies have moved production to other countries, American factories continue to churn out hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods annually - everything from Ford trucks and Boeing airplanes to Gordon & Smith surfboards and Viking appliances." Economist Ken Mayland explained that the "loss of manufacturing jobs" is "not the same as a loss of manufacturing." The article noted, "The U.S. manufacturing sector gradually has been transformed to focus primarily on sophisticated items that require fewer skilled workers to produce but create far greater value than...consumer products that are mainly made overseas."

McClatchy reported, "Improbable as it seems, the brightest spot so far in the nation's spotty economic recovery is a sector long considered all but dead -- good-old-fashioned manufacturing. Factories are churning. Exports are up. Even though jobs are the bleakest aspect of the overall economy these days, factory payrolls have turned positive." The article quoted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who "declared late last month" that "manufacturing has been leading the recovery so far." According to the article, "The basis for that optimism is emerging companies such as Nanosolar in San Jose, Calif., which is riding a wave of demand for 'green energy' equipment, as well as established firms such as Intel Corp. and Boeing Co. that are investing billions in U.S. production facilities. Even old-line manufacturers such as Caterpillar and General Motors Co. are calling back workers."