[riverdawg]

We manufacture twice as much in the US as we did in 1975. We just do it with many fewer workers.

http://mercatus.org/publication/us-manufacturing-output-vs-jobs-1975

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Look up “dark factories” on the Internet. There are factories which no one works except to repair the robots. The future will required trained personnel.

[muawiyah]

The answer to the industrial employment question is "mechanization, automation, computerization, robotics and improved work methods'.

These 5 elements give us improved products at lower cost and free human beings from repetitive stress syndrome and industrial accidents!

BTW, the supervisory classes disappear along with the workers they used to supervise.

[zeestephen]

Re: “We manufacture twice as much in the US as we did in 1975.”

In “Purchase Parity” dollars, America was still the largest manufacturer in the world in 2011.

We beat China by about $20 billion.

And, China employs 8 times more industrial workers than the USA!

[Elsie]

We just do it with many fewer workers.

There ya go!

[cynwoody]

What took 1000 Americans to manufacture in 1950 now takes less than 170.

www.chicagofed.org/digital_assets/others/people/research_resources/strauss_william/05_31_assessing_manufacturing.pdf

[nascarnation]

Yes the operation I retired from turns out more auto parts today with 1500 employees than it did in 1982 with 4000.