As pointed out by Calculated Risk, industrial production is still 4.1% below the pre-recession peak. And, from the job market perspective, things are worse.
Manufacturing’s decline in jobs is part of a complicated picture
Is manufacturing in crisis? That’s a question on the minds of many policy makers. Even President Barack Obama talked about it in his recent State of the Union message, calling for a blueprint for the American economy built on manufacturing.
Manufacturing employment has declined statewide and in the Salem MSA as a percentage of total employment. The decline was steep between 1976 and the 1990s. From 2001 on, the decline leveled off some. In 2000, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics changed the way they categorized industry employment. The change in the definition of manufacturing, while not drastic, may account for some of the difference in the rate of decline in the two time periods.
Nevertheless, in 1976 nearly one of four jobs statewide was in manufacturing. By 2010 one of 10 jobs was a manufacturing job. The proportional change was similar in the Salem MSA.
Why the decline in employment? In large part it’s because advances in technology have made it possible to do more with fewer workers. Off-shoring of jobs also has contributed.
Is declining employment in manufacturing a problem? It has been the source of high wage jobs — and in the 50s, 60s and 70s, high wage jobs that a high school graduate could obtain.
Manufacturing still pays high wages statewide — in 2010, the average manufacturing job in Oregon paid 38 percent more than the average of all jobs. But locally in the Salem MSA the average manufacturing job paid 3 percent less. Why the difference?
The explanation is declining wages in the three largest manufacturing sectors in the Salem MSA. Wood products wages declined 28 percent, food manufacturing wages 19 percent, and fabricated metals wages 3 percent, adjusted for inflation, from 1976 to 2010…
Source:
Read More @ Manufacturing’s decline in jobs is part of a complicated picture | Statesman Journal | statesmanjournal.com.
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