[Wyatt's Torch]

Manufacturing as a percent of the workforce has been declining steadily since the 1950's:

Yet industrial production for manufacturing is nearing an all time high:

The productivity of American manufacturing cannot be underestimated. My company manufactures almost 100% in the US (we run foundries) yet our automation and LEAN efforts have reduced the number of workers required to produce the volumes.

[SamAdams76]

But they do. We now have welfare mamas and the chronically unemployed with big screen televisions and all the movies ever made at their disposal and they can consume such with copious amounts of food and drink purchased with food stamps.