Trump's tariffs didn't bring back all those factory jobs he promised

Of all the promises President Donald Trump made in 2016, one of the most appealing (if implausible) was his boast that he alone could bring back manufacturing jobs. Not for The Donald the weak counsel that it was impossible to make high-priced semi-skilled labor affordable to global companies again.

And now he’s saying he did it, brandishing stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that say 284,000 manufacturing jobs have been added by U.S. companies in the last year.

After two years of lies and damned lies, 8,158 and counting, it was only a matter of time before the president got to the statistics.

“Last year was the best year for American Manufacturing job growth since 1997, or 21 years,” Trump tweeted on Monday. “The previous administration said manufacturing will not come back to the U.S., “you would need a magic wand.” I guess I found the MAGIC WAND - and it is only getting better!”



Problem is, the claim falls apart when you look at the actual numbers. Not only are the numbers for manufacturing employment a third lower — about 6 million jobs — than they were in 1980, and still below 2008 levels. The number of factory jobs in America today is the same as it was the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. All the jobs haven’t come back.

More at https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trumps-tariffs-didnt-bring-back-all-those-factory-jobs-he-promised-2019-01-24