Manufacturing employment has grown faster in the US than in any other leading developed economy since the start of the recovery, as productivity gains and subdued pay rises raise hopes for an American industrial renaissance.
The US has added more net manufacturing jobs since the start of 2010 than the rest of the Group of 7 developed countries put together, with only two other economies, Germany and Canada, increasing factory employment at all.
At 11.79m, employment in US manufacturing is still about 2m below its pre-recession levels. About 2.3m factory jobs were lost in 2007-09, and 328,000 jobs (seasonally adjusted) have been created since then.