"Manufacturing Is ALIVE and Manufacturing jobs are DEAD!!" Not a winning campaign slogan, but it is the truth...

Well, mostly true.  A new report Manufacturing the future: The next era of global growth and innovation is circulating on the econ blogoshere and it speaks of the divergence in manufacturing output relative to manufacturing employment.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This report is on GLOBAL manufacturing, NOT just the US!

Note 3 things in the graphic below.  Employment in manufacturing in 2006 was only 14% of jobs in the private sector.  Private Sector R&D in manufacturing is very high relative to other sectors, but I assume these would not be blue collar "on the assembly line" jobs. Employment in manufacturing from 1996-2006 shows a net loss relative to other sectors.

The "old" manufacturing model was how does/do management and white collar workers assist the line worker in producing the best product.

Going forward the new mantra will be how does/do management and white collar workers assist the machines/robots/ technologically advanced production lines in producing the best product.

Notice the line workers job missing in the second part?

The future....