The manufacturing sector showed strong hiring through November in the jobs report released Friday, suggesting that the Trump administration’s tariffs are not having a strong negative effect on the economy, at least not so far.
The administration’s tariffs have increased the prices of the key raw materials of steel and aluminum, putting a squeeze on many companies, but the strength of the economy, with unemployment at a very low 3.7 percent overall, appears to have mitigated those effects.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that manufacturing employers added 27,000 jobs in November, and 285,000 over the past year. The bureau noted that both the workweek and overtime for the sector were unchanged, at 40.8 hours and 3.5 hours, respectively.
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The industry attributed the gains to the Trump administration rolling back some Obama administration-era regulations and changes in tax policy, but said they still needed more workers to keep up with growth.
“Game-changing tax and regulatory reform has led to manufacturers hiring more workers and raising wages and benefits,” said Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers. “Nonetheless, with nearly half a million open jobs in manufacturing today, and 2.4 million manufacturing jobs expected to go unfilled over the next decade, our industry faces an unprecedented workforce crisis.”
The Trump administration has placed tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports, arguing they were necessary to protect domestic industries and therefore ensure production for national defense.
The manufacturing sectors may have benefited from another tariff controversy: Fears that the Trump administration would raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports starting next year. That prompted many in shipping to boost imports ahead of the deadline. The administration has since postponed that tariff hike until at least March.
