Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data

by Charles Wheelan

In terms of output—the total value of goods produced and sold—the U.S. manufacturing sector grew steadily in the 2000s, took a big hit during the Great Recession, and has since bounced back robustly. This is consistent with data from the CIA’s World Factbook showing that the United States is the third-largest manufacturing exporter in the world, behind China and Germany. The United States remains a manufacturing powerhouse. But the graph in the Economist has a second line, which is manufacturing employment. The number of manufacturing jobs in the United States has fallen steadily; roughly six million manufacturing jobs were lost in the last decade. Together, these two stories—rising manufacturing output and falling employment—tell the complete story. Manufacturing in the United States has grown steadily more productive, meaning that factories are producing more output with fewer workers.