SOTU FACT CHECK: President Trump’s Promise to Bring Back Manufacturing, Coal Jobs Disappoints
President Trump claim: "We have ended the war on American Energy -- and we have ended the war on clean coal…In Detroit, I halted Government mandates that crippled America's autoworkers -- so we can get the Motor City revving its engines once again. Many car companies are now building and expanding plants in the United States -- something we have not seen for decades… Soon, plants will be opening up all over the country. This is all news Americans are unaccustomed to hearing -- for many years, companies and jobs were only leaving us. But now they are coming back." [State of the Union, 1/30/18]
President Trump's Promise to Bring Back Manufacturing, Coal Jobs Disappoints: President Trump made promise after promise to reopen factories in middle America and to bring back manufacturing and coal jobs. The numbers disappoint. Manufacturing factories gained 196,000 jobs in 2017 – a respectable number given the loss of factory jobs in 2016 but fewer than those added in both 2014 and 2011.
"And most of the jobs that have been added this year were outside the Midwestern ‘Rust Belt' states that swung for Trump in the election… Meanwhile, Michigan's manufacturing employment was flat last year, while factory jobs rose just 0.5 percent in Ohio. Pennsylvania lost manufacturing jobs." – AP, 1/18/18
Coal mining jobs only grew by 770 and those were in West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Many states lost mining jobs including Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Wyoming, Indiana, New Mexico and Texas.
"Texas lost the largest number, at 455, and Ohio was a close second, losing 414, according to the data. Pennsylvania, which gained 96 jobs in 2017, is also expected to go negative soon after Dana Mining announced this month it would close a mine employing about 400 people." – Reuters, 1/19/18
Job Creation Under Trump Has Been Lower Than Each of the Previous Six Years: Under President Trump, in 2017, 2.06 million jobs were created. However, that is lower than the 2.24 million jobs created in 2016 and is also lower than job creation in each of the previous six years.