Strong Manufacturing

Well we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
--Billy Joel

Common wisdom has it that US manufacturing is on the decline. Data to support such claims are usually percentages of US GDP tied up in manufacturing--which indeed indicate that the fraction of US output attributed to manufacturing has been declining for years.

On an absolute basis, however, the value of US manufacturing output has been increasing. Currently, America produces more manufactured output than any other country (with the exception perhaps of China). And the value of US output exceeds the total output of most other countries ($2 trillion+).

When viewed in this manner, US manufacturing can be seen as very strong rather than weak and getting weaker.