Manufacturing Industry Posts Biggest Annual Jobs Gain in 21 Years
WASHINGTON—The manufacturing industry posted a net gain of 284,000 jobs in 2018, capping its best calendar year since 1997, the Labor Department announced earlier this week. Manufacturing gained 32,000 jobs in December. Most of the gains occurred in blue-collar durable goods manufacturing, with growth in fabricated metals and computer and electronic products.
"Our industry currently faces a workforce crisis with more than half a million open jobs today, and 2.4 million jobs expected to go unfilled over the next decade," says Dr. Chad Moutray, chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers. "Closing the skills gap continues to be the top challenge facing manufacturers in the United States and is absolutely essential to ensuring that the sector continues to grow."