Surprise! Blue collar jobs are coming back

[spanone]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As the labor market continues to struggle, one surprising bright spot stands out amid the list of battered industries -- factory jobs.

Manufacturing employment began its decline long before the recession, losing jobs every year since 1998. But since the start of this year, there's been a 1.6% gain in manufacturing jobs -- about twice the pace of growth in other private sector jobs.

Even if manufacturing hiring stays flat the rest of this year, the industry is poised to post its biggest percentage gain in jobs since 1994.

"In 2008 and 2009, manufacturers would not hire," said Norbert Ore, head of the Institute for Supply Management's survey of manufacturers. "Today they're willing to fill openings, willing to hire. Here and there, they're adding a shift."

http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/27/news/economy/manufacturing_job_rebound/index.htm?hpt=T1

[Brickbat]

1. I'd like to see a breakdown on what those manufacturing jobs are, as well as pay scales.

Two-tiered wage scales and union busting have taken a lot of the middle-class luster from some of these jobs.

[zipplewrath]

3. Without knowing

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a bit of a short term phenomenon from the auto industry. They took a serious beating in '09 and there has been some re-staffing that may account for these increases. I wouldn't expact that to last long. Outside of that, I'd be real curious to know what qualifies in the study as "manufacturing jobs". That's a very counter intuitive announcement. A very good one if it is true. Even better if it is because of increased manufacturing in sectors like alternative energy generation, medicine, and construction materials.

[L0oniX]

2. Info ad paid for by the US Gov Psych team.

[spanone]

4. c'mon now, let's all shit on some good news.

:evilgrin:

[rfranklin]

5. It's hardly news at all...it's a blip...1.6% increase based on...

the current reduced numbers of manufacturing jobs. It is not 1.6% of the number of manufacturing jobs in 1998.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-12-12-manufacture_x.htm

"Fifty years ago, a third of U.S. employees worked in factories, making everything from clothing to lipstick to cars. Today, a little more than one-tenth of the nation's 131 million workers are employed by manufacturing firms. Four-fifths are in services.

The decline in manufacturing jobs has swiftly accelerated since the beginning of 2000. Since then, more than 1.9 million factory jobs have been cut — about 10% of the sector's workforce. During the same period, the number of jobs outside manufacturing has risen close to 2%."

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=5078&type=0

"The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has experienced substantial job losses over the past several years. In January 2004, the number of such jobs stood at 14.3 million, down by 3.0 million jobs, or 17.5 percent, since July 2000 and about 5.2 million since the historical peak in 1979. Employment in manufacturing was its lowest since July 1950"

[SoCalDem]

8. and a factory job was often the cornerstone of a decent family income

a job that could be counted on ...Now it's a whimsical thing..like a McRib sandwich... here for a while & then gone..

[Warpy]

9. Exactly, this would be good news only if US manufacturers

started to reopen plants producing durable goods, finally recognizing the piss poor quality we've been getting from Asia as one reason we're not all running out to replace appliances instead of repairing them.

Unfortunately, they don't seem to care that they're producing garbage as long as the cash flow is positive.

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[OHdem10]

7. Check these reports carefully. It is in the Politicians and Busineess

interests to put out as much positive as they can re mfg.

They have screwed the country royally by not enforcing labor
agreements: in other words giving Business a free-hand to
export American Jobs. The chickens have come home to roost.
This is contributing mightily to the Jobless Recovery.

O'Donahue, is always putting a smiley face on Mfg.

I hope this information is all absolutely true. I am just
saying trust but verify.