Percentages do help weed out raw numbers enhanced by money growth and inflation. Without a doubt, gross manufacturing output has risen. But the portion it has contributed to overall gross output is shrinking. What has contributed a growing portion to the total gross output the last few years ? Real Estate, Services, and Government. Manufacturing produces wealth for our nation. The shrinking portion of our economy it represents is disconcerting.
Our imports from china went from approxiamtely $152 billion in 2003 to 197 billion in 2004.
The rise of 45 billion in imports from 2003/2004 is more than we sell to china which was something like 34 billion in 2004.
That is telling abour our loss of manufacturing and which way it is trending.