No, Trump didn’t lose more manufacturing jobs than any other president, like Walz claimed

In the closing weeks of the presidential campaign, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are trying to make the argument that they’re the best choice for the U.S. economy. As part of that argument, Harris’ campaign has attacked Trump’s record on manufacturing jobs.

At an Oct. 4 campaign event in Michigan, Harris said that Trump “lost nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs” and added that “those losses started before the pandemic.”

“We know that Donald Trump lost more manufacturing jobs than any president in American history,” Tim Walz said on an Oct. 21 episode of The View.

THE QUESTION

Were there more manufacturing jobs lost during Trump's presidency than any other in history?

THE SOURCES

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

• Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

• Library of Congress

THE ANSWER

No, there weren’t more manufacturing jobs lost during Trump’s presidency than any other in history.

WHAT WE FOUND

While roughly 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during Donald Trump's presidency, it wasn't the largest decline in history.

There were about 12.4 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. in January 2017 and about 12.2 million manufacturing jobs in January 2021, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s a loss of about 200,000 manufacturing jobs over the four years of Trump’s administration.

There were 17.1 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. in January 2001 at the start of George W. Bush’s presidency, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. By the start of his second term in January 2005, there were 14.3 million American manufacturing jobs. By the time he left office in January 2009, there were 12.6 million manufacturing jobs. 

That’s a loss of 2.8 million manufacturing jobs in one term and a loss of 4.5 million over the course of Bush’s two-term presidency. Since the Federal Reserve Bank began tracking manufacturing job numbers in 1939, no other president has seen more losses in U.S. manufacturing jobs throughout their presidency.

The U.S. lost 2.2 million manufacturing jobs over Eisenhower’s two terms, 600,000 in Reagan’s two terms, 1.3 million in George H.W. Bush’s one term and about 200,000 in Obama’s two terms.

The number of U.S. manufacturing jobs actually increased during the first half of Trump’s presidency. There were 12.8 million manufacturing jobs in January 2019, 400,000 more than there were when he took office.

But those numbers plateaued in 2019 and even began to dip a little before the coronavirus pandemic. There were 40,000 fewer U.S. manufacturing jobs in January 2020 than there were the year before.

American manufacturing jobs decreased significantly at the start of the pandemic; by April 2020, there were 11.4 million manufacturing jobs, 1 million fewer than when Trump took office. By the time Trump left office, U.S. manufacturing added back 800,000 of the jobs it lost at the start of the pandemic.

The U.S. continued to add manufacturing jobs at the start of Biden’s presidency. American manufacturing jobs surpassed 12.9 million in October 2022. American manufacturing jobs have largely plateaued and more recently dipped a little since then, but there are still about 700,000 more jobs now than there were at the start of Biden’s presidency.