At the Democratic National Convention last night, President Obama outlined a number of goals, including two specifically oriented toward the manufacturing sector:

• Create one million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016
• Double exports by the end of 2014

Interestingly, the goal of creating "one million new manufacturing jobs" essentially lays down a marker.

If the president were to start that plan today, the U.S. would need to add nearly 19,000 manufacturing jobs per month from now until the end of 2016 to reach one million new jobs.

In the past two years, the U.S. has added an average of 17,250 manufacturing jobs/month.  However, a seven-year expansion of manufacturing jobs would be unprecedented.

Further complicating things is the 15,000 manufacturing jobs lost as of this morning's jobs report for August.  In fact, many of the 15,000 jobs lost were in the auto parts sector. 

As the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports:

Manufacturing employment edged down in August (-15,000). A decline in motor vehicles and parts (-8,000) partially offset a gain in July. Auto manufacturers laid off fewer workers for factory retooling than usual in July, and fewer workers than usual were recalled in August.

Read more about the latest monthly jobs report, and the challenges facing the U.S. manufacturing sector.