Manufacturing Jobs: Facts to Ponder

Since 2001, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities.  On average, 15 U.S. factories close every day.  Consequences of such losses are an epidemic of unemployment in this country and the loss of good paying jobs to overseas workers.  (The "Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate" is currently at 62.8%, which is the lowest since December 1978.  In regard to wages,  half the country makes $27,520 a year or less from their jobs.)  Back in the 1980s, over 20% of the jobs in the U.S. were manufacturing jobs.  Today, only about 9% of the jobs in the U.S. are manufacturing jobs.