The thing is, US manufacturing jobs started as fewer and declined more than, say, Italy and Germany [1]. US policies weren't particularly opposed to the decline

The thing is, US manufacturing jobs started as fewer and declined more than, say, Italy and Germany [1]. US policies weren't particularly opposed to the decline. That said, the conception that manufacturing jobs are "good" compared to other jobs is simplistic if not outright false. The US once had quiet a few relatively high paid, unionized manufacturing jobs. Some of those went to China and some of those went to the South/South-West where wages were also lower and union protections less. The fuzziness of US political rhetoric creates a real distorting lens. Manufacturing jobs can be substituted for safe, well-paying skilled jobs. The existence of jobs can be sold as a goal rather than (employment, wage and safety) protections for workers, etc. And then what politicians actually do winds-up with little relation to the rhetoric anyway. https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/manufacturing-accounts-for-a-relatively-small-and-declining-share-of-total-employment-in-rich-countries https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/manufacturing-accou...