American Apparel will close underperforming stores and cut jobs as part of a $30 million cost-cutting strategy to turn its floundering business around. Read more
A generation of economists trained to believe that trade had little to do with the long decline in high-paying U.S. factory jobs is changing its mind. Read more
A huge but little-known trade agreement could transform America’s foreign relations. What it is and why it matters. Read more
Image credit: The AutoMotovated Cyclist | Flickr
People are often surprised when I tell them that my company produces 100 percent of its products here in the United States. After all, my firm, WallMonkeys makes custom wall decals at a time when cheap vinyl stickers fill the aisles at Target and 99-cent stores. According to the prevailing wisdom, manufacturing domestically should put my company at a competitive disadvantage. Read more
Garner-based Butterball LLC will take over a turkey plant formerly occupied by House of Raeford, bringing hundreds of poultry processing jobs back to Hoke County, officials said Thursday. Read more
While the reshoring tide is undeniably rising, the prospect of clothing and apparel manufacturing returning to the United States remains uncertain. Back in the 1960s, about 95% of clothing worn in the U.S.A. was also made here. Today the opposite is true. Can we flip the switch again? Read more
SARAH HOFFMAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
From left, Melissa Kleitsch, Diane Hynek and Laurie Bessler sew American flags at MSA Brand Products in the McBattas Packaging and Printing building in Fairbury, Nebraska. The former Swingster sewing factory — where Bessler worked for 17 years — has been transformed to produce and sell American flags made in the U.S.
The American flag flapping above the McBattas Packaging and Printing building on the north edge of town is unremarkable as flags go.
At 3-by-5-feet, it’s not especially large. Its colors, of course, are the standard red, white and blue, and it has 50 stars and 13 stripes. Read more
There are roughly 5.1 million fewer American manufacturing jobs now than at the start of 2001. And China is to blame for more than one-third of American jobs lost, says a new report. Read more
