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This Week in Manufacturing - 12/3/2025

This Week in Manufacturing - 12/3/2025

Industry jobs growth hits decade high

December 03, 2025

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This report is brought to you in partnership with Sustainment, a market network dedicated to the success of American Manufacturing. Learn More →

💴 This Week in Manufacturing

We’re back from a Thanksgiving break and hope you’re ready to dive into the wilds of industry once more! To start, if you wanted a snapshot of how dynamic American manufacturing has become, this week provided it. Factory activity softened and inventories grew as companies navigated high input costs, yet manufacturers added jobs at the fastest pace in more than a decade. The U.S. also extended 178 tariff exclusions, offering near-term relief for firms dependent on specialized components. And despite macro headwinds, major investments in pharmaceuticals, clean energy, and advanced materials underscored the momentum behind domestic production. The reshoring engine continues to run.

Our headlines this week showcase an extended variety of investments from major players such as GE, Nokia, BMW, and more.

This week’s first podcast, from The Manufacturing Executive, dives into another type of partnership with the government as a stakeholder. The second podcast, from The Manufacturing Report, highlights how a teen hobby could turn into a major leathermaking business.

Our Social Video and Fun Fact tackle different sides of the renewable energy industry; from political reluctance to actual capacity growth.

Thanks for joining us!

⚙ Manufacturing Headlines

The $104bn Challenge Behind BMW's EV Manufacturing [Manufacturing Digital]
GE Appliances awards $150m in new supplier contracts [The Manufacturer]
Are tariffs really rebuilding American manufacturing? [Supply Chain Management Review]
Nokia pledges $4B US manufacturing, R&D investment [Manufacturing Dive]
NeoVolta secures $13M for US energy storage manufacturing [Energy Storage News]

COMMENTARY

♨️ The Week America’s Industrial Economy Sent Mixed but Meaningful Signals

A slowdown in activity contrasts with fresh momentum in capacity and investment.

If you were looking for a clean headline to summarize the final full week of November, you won’t find one.

This week’s manufacturing news delivered a sharp contrast: factory activity cooled while manufacturing employment surged to its strongest monthly gain since 2013. At the same time, Washington extended 178 tariff exclusions that directly shape cost structures for U.S. producers.

And across pharma, clean energy, and advanced materials, billions in new factory investments kept rolling in. Short-term pressures aside, the long-term reshoring trend is unmistakably intact.

Upshot: Despite tighter margins and slower orders, manufacturers are signaling confidence by investing in people — the foundation of any resilient industrial base.