The latest news is that manufacturing is making a comeback. Yet somehow those stories seem a little hollow. Sort of like employment losses declining. Improvements; yes. Time to get excited; not quite.
We continue to hear from economists that outsourcing to Asia and elsewhere only affects the industries that are too labor intensive or just not all that important. The Bureau of Labor Statistics breaks down the winners and losers for various "industries." One thing to note is that "industry" doesn't necessarily mean "industrial" in the more familiar sense. It means business sector.
The startling picture is that we are on a fast track to nowhere. Manufacturing is rapidly declining and we are now a "service" economy... getting poorer by taking care of non-productive segments of the economy. The only growth seems to be in health care. Does that mean we need to have more sick people to continue economic growth? Hardly seems plausible. [click "Read more" link below for the full story]
| Table 2.3 Industries with the fastest growing and most rapidly declining wage and salary employment, 2008 and projected 2018 | |||||
| Industry description | Sector | Thousands of jobs | Change | Average annual rate of change | |
| 2008 | 2018 | 2008-18 | 2008-18 | ||
| Fastest growing | |||||
| Management, scientific, and technical consulting services | Professional and business services | 1,008.9 | 1,844.1 | 835.2 | 6.2 |
| Other educational services | Educational services | 578.9 | 894.9 | 316.0 | 4.5 |
| Individual and family services | Health care and social asistance | 1,108.6 | 1,638.8 | 530.2 | 4.0 |
| Home health care services | Health care and social asistance | 958.0 | 1,399.4 | 441.4 | 3.9 |
| Specialized design services | Professional and business services | 143.1 | 208.7 | 65.6 | 3.8 |
| Data processing, hosting, related services, and other information services | Information | 395.2 | 574.1 | 178.9 | 3.8 |
| Computer systems design and related services | Professional and business services | 1,450.3 | 2,106.7 | 656.4 | 3.8 |
| Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works) | Financial activities | 28.2 | 37.9 | 9.7 | 3.0 |
| Offices of health practitioners | Health care and social asistance | 3,713.3 | 4,978.6 | 1,265.3 | 3.0 |
| Personal care services | Other services | 621.6 | 819.1 | 197.5 | 2.8 |
| Outpatient, laboratory, and other ambulatory care services | Health care and social asistance | 989.5 | 1,297.9 | 308.4 | 2.8 |
| Facilities support services | Professional and business services | 132.7 | 173.6 | 40.9 | 2.7 |
| Software publishers | Information | 263.7 | 342.8 | 79.1 | 2.7 |
| Independent artists, writers, and performers | Leisure and hospitality | 50.4 | 64.8 | 14.4 | 2.5 |
| Local government passenger transit | State and local government | 268.6 | 342.6 | 74.0 | 2.5 |
| Elementary and secondary schools | Educational services | 854.9 | 1,089.7 | 234.8 | 2.5 |
| Scientific research and development services | Professional and business services | 621.7 | 778.9 | 157.2 | 2.3 |
| Waste management and remediation services | Professional and business services | 360.2 | 451.0 | 90.8 | 2.3 |
| Other miscellaneous manufacturing | Manufacturing | 321.0 | 399.4 | 78.4 | 2.2 |
| Community and vocational rehabilitation services | Health care and social asistance | 540.9 | 672.0 | 131.1 | 2.2 |
Most rapidly declining | |||||
| Cut and sew apparel manufacturing | Manufacturing | 155.2 | 66.7 | -88.5 | -8.1 |
| Apparel knitting mills | Manufacturing | 26.2 | 12.5 | -13.7 | -7.1 |
| Textile and fabric finishing and fabric coating mills | Manufacturing | 48.3 | 23.5 | -24.8 | -7.0 |
| Fabric mills | Manufacturing | 65.4 | 35.0 | -30.4 | -6.1 |
| Audio and video equipment manufacturing | Manufacturing | 27.0 | 14.6 | -12.4 | -6.0 |
| Apparel accessories and other apparel manufacturing | Manufacturing | 17.0 | 9.2 | -7.8 | -6.0 |
| Fiber, yarn, and thread mills | Manufacturing | 37.4 | 20.7 | -16.7 | -5.7 |
| Textile furnishings mills | Manufacturing | 75.4 | 41.9 | -33.5 | -5.7 |
| Railroad rolling stock manufacturing | Manufacturing | 28.4 | 17.5 | -10.9 | -4.7 |
| Footwear manufacturing | Manufacturing | 15.8 | 10.0 | -5.8 | -4.5 |
| Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills | Manufacturing | 126.1 | 81.9 | -44.2 | -4.2 |
| Basic chemical manufacturing | Manufacturing | 152.1 | 99.9 | -52.2 | -4.1 |
| Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing | Manufacturing | 432.4 | 286.8 | -145.6 | -4.0 |
| Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing | Manufacturing | 182.8 | 124.7 | -58.1 | -3.8 |
| Other textile product mills | Manufacturing | 72.2 | 49.4 | -22.8 | -3.7 |
| Federal enterprises except the Postal Service and electric utilities | Federal government | 63.5 | 44.9 | -18.6 | -3.4 |
| Leather and hide tanning and finishing, and other leather and allied product manufacturing | Manufacturing | 17.8 | 13.0 | -4.8 | -3.1 |
| Cutlery and handtool manufacturing | Manufacturing | 49.1 | 35.9 | -13.2 | -3.1 |
| Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media | Manufacturing | 34.9 | 26.0 | -8.9 | -2.9 |
| Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning, and commercial refrigeration equipment manufacturing | Manufacturing | 149.5 | 112.8 | -36.7 | -2.8 |
| Source: Employment Projections Program, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | |||||
That whoosing sound it our economy heading toward Asia.