Under FDR, the portion of workers in manufacturing rose dramatically: from 30.3% to 37.0%. Since then, the portion of workers in manufacturing has dropped under every president. Except Trump. When Trump began his presidency, manufacturing workers were 8.5% of the workforce. When his presidency ended, manufacturing workers were 8.5% of the workforce.
Curiously, though, the number of Americans working in manufacturing dropped by 182,000 during Trump's presidency.
In Biden's first 19 months in office, the percentage of the workforce in manufacturing has dropped from 8.5% to 8.4%. By contrast, though, the number of Americans working in manufacturing has gone up by 668,000.
In this the two presidents are similar to others in their party.
The number of workers in manufacturing rose under every Democratic president from FDR on - except for Obama. (The number fell 195,000 during Obama's presidency.)
By contrast, the number of workers in manufacturing fell under every Republican president after FDR - except for Nixon. (The number rose 138,000 during his presidency.)
Just as with farming before it, the portion of Americans working in manufacturing has steadily gone down since the build up of armaments during World War II. It will be interesting to see if Biden can match Trump's accomplishment of holding the percentage steady.
Just as with farming before it, the portion of Americans working in manufacturing has steadily gone down since the build up of armaments during World War II. It will be interesting to see if Biden can match Trump's accomplishment of holding the percentage steady.
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