American manufacturing, 1979 to now
Factories make more than they did forty years ago with far fewer people. Most of the jobs left in one decade, some came back, and now the country is building factories again. Here is that story in the official numbers.
Jobs and output, 1979 = 100
Manufacturing jobs (BLS) and industrial production (Federal Reserve). The dashed line leaves out computers, chips, communications gear and vehicles.
OutputOutput excl. high-tech & vehiclesJobs
Change in factory jobs by state, 2000–2010
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · hover a state
Change in jobs by industry group, 2000–2010
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Change in factory jobs by state, 2010–2019
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · hover a state
Factory construction spending, monthly
Alabama factory jobs in two industries
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Vehicles & EVsTextiles & apparel
7 · Where things stand
What to watch next
What each category includes
Every manufacturing industry BLS tracks sits in exactly one category and one industry group, so together they add up to all of manufacturing. The small numbers are NAICS industry codes, the federal system BLS uses to classify businesses.
Data sources
- BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: jobs by state and industry, private sector, annual averages.
- BLS Current Employment Statistics: national manufacturing jobs since 1979 (via FRED).
- Federal Reserve G.17 Industrial Production: manufacturing output, and output excluding high-tech and motor vehicles (via FRED).
- Census Bureau Construction Spending: private factory construction, adjusted with the BLS Producer Price Index for industrial building.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Alabama manufacturing GDP after inflation (Alabama story).
- Alabama Department of Commerce, New & Expanding Industry reports: announced investment (Alabama story).
- USAspending.gov: federal contracts with manufacturers (Alabama story).
- us-atlas: state and county outlines from the Census Bureau.