Economy

The unemployment rate in the manufacturing industry for private wage and salary workers is at its lowest point in 17 years, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. November had a rate of 2.6 percent unemployment, down from a high of 13 percent in January 2010 and the lowest since 3.1 percent in June 2000.

Regal Cutting Tools, Roscoe, Ill., has been part of Hononegah Community High School’s Workplace Readiness Program for years, including job shadowing and training workshops. The company also is very involved in Beloit Memorial High School’s technical programs, providing mentorship, summer apprenticeships and internships. The success of the programs with Regal Cutting Tools and other companies has created a problem. “I never have enough students to make my level three machining class run,” said a machining and welding instructor at Beloit Memorial. “The reason why is because they’re pilfered off the machining two class to work for these different companies. It’s an excellent sign of demand.”

Additive manufacturing developer HP Inc. and professional services company Deloitte together will work to accelerate the digital reinvention of the $12 trillion global manufacturing industry. The two companies will collaborate on the implementation of HP’s 3D printing systems in large-scale manufacturing environments, applying their digital operations experience to help enterprises accelerate product design and production, create more flexible manufacturing and supply chains, and enhance efficiency across the manufacturing lifecycle.

Growth in China's manufacturing sector slowed marginally in July, reinforcing expectations that the world's second-largest economy will cool in coming months as borrowing costs rise and regulators clamp down on riskier types of financing. The official Purchasing Managers' Index stood at 51.4 in July, down from the previous month's 51.7 but still well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast that the reading would come in at 51.6, little changed from June.

"Without irony, Wal-Mart Stores on Wednesday outlined its recommendations to improve the U.S. manufacturing sector," writes Steve Goldstein for MarketWatch. "Wal-Mart could arguably be said to be a contributor to the demise of U.S. manufacturing, with its rapacious sourcing of consumer goods from China as it became the nation's dominant retailer. A 2015 estimate from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, said Wal-Mart's trade deficit with China had displaced more than 400,000 U.S. jobs."