NOTE: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?
SUMMARY
The U.S. job market has been cooling, and it’s only getting harder for Americans to find a job. One sector that has proved tougher than most is manufacturing. President Trump has promised a manufacturing boom in both of his terms. While he has been able to get pledges for more factory investment, the real job numbers tell a different story so far. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.
View the transcript of the story.
News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.
Key Terms
tariff — a tax on imported or exported goods
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
- Who is Rob Hines, and where does he work?
- What happened to the instrument manufacturer where Hines works?
- How has President Trump tried to bring back manufacturing jobs to the U.S.?
- Why would tariffs not increase manufacturing employment much, according to Robert Lawrence?
- Where is much of the lost manufacturing work described in this segment going to?
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
- Why do you think so many politicians focus on adding manufacturing jobs in the U.S.? Why are they seen as important, do you think?
- Do you think the Trump administration's plan to bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S. by increasing tariffs (fees on good manufactured overseas) likely to work? Why or why not?
Media literacy: Why do you think this segment focused on manufacturing jobs in the state of Ohio? What is significant about that state that might make it a good focus for this story?
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO
The News Hour included two infographics in this segment. One shows manufacturing job losses since President Trump took office in January 2025. The other states how many manufacturing jobs were lost over a more than 20 year period. Examine the infographics and then discuss the questions below —
- On average, about how many manufacturing jobs per month have been lost through the first part of President Trump's term? (Don't worry about calculating an exact figure, you can estimate). What is that average over a full year?
- How many jobs were lost on average every year from 1998 to 2020?
- Roughly how does manufacturing job loss during the past year or so compare to an average year from 1998 to 2020? Does the past year seem unusual, or about average?
- Finally, what do you think are the most important factors driving the economy in the U.S. today? How much impact do you think federal policies have?
NEWS: THEN & NOW
The News: Then & Now section of the Daily News Lessons allows students to see connections between current and past news events. The activity provides historical context using primary sources from the Library of Congress.
See PBS News Hour Classroom's Journalism in Action website for interactive examples of how journalists covered key events in U.S. history while honing your primary source, civics and digital news literacy skills.
THEN
The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century brought major changes to American society, moving it from a largely agrarian (farming) economy to a manufacturing one.
Examine the political cartoon (1883) by Bernhard Gillam created during the Gilded Age (1870s to 1890s). The cartoon shows so-called captains of industry (also known as Robber Barrons) Cyrus Field, Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Russell Sage, seated on bags of millions of dollars on top of a large raft being carried by workers of various professions.
"The protectors of our industries." Puck, v. 12, no. 309, (1883 February 7), Library of Congress. Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ds.16881/
Now take a look at the 1907 photograph of women sewing in a shirt factory in Troy, N.Y. You can explore more of the Progressive Era and the treatment of workers in Journalism in Action's case study here.
Keystone View Company. Sewing room, shirt factory, Troy, N.Y. New York Troy, ca. 1907. Meadville, Pa.: Keystone View Company. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/89706288/.
NOW
As the closing graphic in the News Hour story states, the U.S. has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs between 1998 and 2020. The manufacturing sector, which peaked in 1979, has been hard hit due to global competition, exchange rates and automation. President Trump promised a manufacturing boom in both of his terms, which has not yet come to fruition (= has not occurred).
Discussion questions:
- Why do you think the cartoonist name his cartoon "Protectors of Industry"?
- What are comparisons you can draw between workers in the political cartoon and workers at the sousaphone factory?
- Why do you think manufacturing has been a critical part of American identity?
- What would it take for manufacturing jobs to return to the U.S.?
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