WASHINGTON, D.C., December 2, 2005 - For the second consecutive month
U.S. manufacturing created jobs in November, according to today's
employment report from the Labor Department, and National Association of
Manufacturers chief economist David Huether said, "That's the first time
that's happened in more than a year."
With 215,000 new non-farm jobs created across all economic sectors last
month, Huether observed, "The overall economy's strong underpinnings
have helped it weather the Gulf storms that battered employment in
September and October. That manufacturing followed up a gain of 15,000
jobs in October with 11,000 more in November suggests that solid growth
in orders and production reported earlier this week will keep U.S.
industry in its steady recovery mode into next year."
Huether said that as the overall unemployment rate held steady at 5
percent, U.S. manufacturing boosted employment to 14,270,000 workers.
"Of course," he added, "we've barely made a dent in recovering the 3
million jobs we lost in the last recession."
Moving back to the present and future, Huether said, "Unlike
manufacturing's job gains in October, which largely reflected a return
to work by striking aerospace workers. November's gains were spread
throughout most durable goods sectors. And considering last month's 3.4
percent rise in durable goods orders, it looks like business investment
is accelerating, and that bodes well for additional manufacturing job
creation in coming months."
Finally, noting that he hates "to rain on anyone's parade," Huether
offered a word of caution about the "continuing threat high energy
prices pose to U.S. manufacturing and our economy as a whole.
Increasingly tight supplies of natural gas, in particular, will be an
ongoing problem for the U.S. economy until Congress acts to allow more
domestic energy exploration and production."
The National Association of Manufacturers is the nation's largest
industrial trade association, representing small and large manufacturers
in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Headquartered in
Washington, D.C., the NAM has 10 additional offices across the country.
Visit the NAM's award-winning web site at www.nam.org for more
information about manufacturing and the economy.
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW * Suite 600 * Washington, DC 20004-1790 *
www.nam.org <http://www.nam.org/>