The Department of Labor announced this morning that America's manufacturing sector gained 16,000 jobs in June. Additionally, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that America's monthly goods trade deficit with China rose to $28.8 billion in May. The #AAMeter stands at +156,000 manufacturing jobs for President Obama's second term.
Said Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul:
"While the low-wage recovery progresses full bore, the June jobs report shows that high-wage job growth is at a standstill. Manufacturing accounted for only 5.6 percent of job growth in June, far below its weight in the wider economy. Construction job growth was even slower.
"Looking for a reason why? It’s all about public policy. Our growing trade deficit with China, currency manipulation by overseas competitors, and a paucity of investment in infrastructure are leaving factory jobs at a virtual standstill. President Obama’s vision of creating 1 million new manufacturing job during his second term is way off track.
"With the right policies from this administration and Congress, it’s entirely possible to grow manufacturing employment. But until then, the idea of a resurgence in the sector simply isn't supported by the data. As an industry, manufacturing has added back only one-fourth of the jobs it lost during the Great Recession. Five years into a recovery, that’s not good enough."
Some specifics from this morning:
- America has added only 156,000 manufacturing jobs so far in President Obama's second term.
- America's goods trade deficit with China rose to $28.8 billion in May, up from $27.3 billion in April.
- Overall, the U.S. international goods and services trade deficit declined to $44.4 billion in May, down from $47.0 billion in April, revised.
A trivia note about today's reports: This month's jobs and trade reports came out on the same day. That last occurred in March of this year. Before that, the last such occurrence was on March 9, 2012.
How can President Obama create 5.8 million jobs in the U.S. with the stroke of a pen? Name China as a currency manipulator Read more.
The #AAMeter:
President Obama set a goal of creating 1 million new manufacturing jobs in his second term. To follow the president's progress, AAM maintains a manufacturing jobs tracker, the #AAMeter, based on monthly jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.