Chemicals Boom While Cars Go Bust

For a few years now, optimists have been proclaiming that the time for a U.S. manufacturing resurgence is upon us. Labor costs have risen so much in China that they no longer confer a big advantage. Multinational corporations have decided that the physical and political risks inherent in manufacturing far from consumers often aren't worth the cost savings. The boom in U.S. oil and natural gas production enabled by fracking and other new drilling techniques has lowered manufacturers' energy costs and provided abundant feedstock for the petrochemicals industry. And now there's a guy in the White House who has pledged to make manufacturing a top priority.

So boom times are upon us, right? Well, sort of. After a stall-out that lasted for most of 2016, the post-recession recovery in manufacturing employment seems to be back on track, with 73,000 jobs added since November.