Seven straight months of manufacturing growth — the longest winning streak in nearly two decades.
That’s what the Federal Reserve’s latest data shows, confirming President Donald Trump’s trade policies are driving a manufacturing comeback despite Wall Street critics trying to spin it as failure.
The Fed’s statistical release showed July’s after-inflation manufacturing output increased 0.2 percent over the previous month. That continues a seven-month streak of sequential increases — the longest such run since nine months between 2006 and 2007.
Obama-era financier Steven Rattner tried to dismiss the numbers in a New York Times guest essay, arguing Trump had failed to deliver on his second inaugural promise that “America will be a manufacturing nation once again.”
Bringing jobs home was a core campaign promise for President Trump.
Yet the data shows little progress toward that goal. Factory jobs peaked under Biden and have declined by over 60,00 since Trump’s inauguration.
Read more in my op-ed for @nytopinion: https://t.co/mE6S9ZNmphpic.twitter.com/LL1nNEabpu
— Steve Rattner (@SteveRattner) August 19, 2026
Rattner pointed to a 62,000-job decline in manufacturing employment since Trump’s inauguration. But he ignored the actual output numbers — which tell a very different story.
Manufacturing output has risen under Trump, even as employment fluctuates.
Industrial production rose 0.2% M/M in Jul from an upwardly revised print in Jun and is up 1.1% Y/Y; capacity utilization also rose, up 0.1 percentage point M/M and 1.2pp Y/Y; ’25 was rocky but the data are looking much better for ’26: pic.twitter.com/2PnL3FG7Az
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) August 18, 2026
Economist Alan Tonelson, a fellow at the U.S. Business and Industry Council Educational Foundation, confirmed the seven-month streak is the longest since the mid-2000s.
“These Fed results by no means demonstrate that domestic industry is currently booming, but a near-20-year best win streak could turn out to be a pretty good start.”
Tonelson added that despite critics attacking Trump’s tariff policies, the nation’s manufacturing has actually expanded during his second administration and widened the margin over the final months of the Biden era.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative celebrated the data, posting that Trump’s trade agenda is “rebuilding America’s manufacturing base, boosting industrial production, and advancing the interests of American workers.”
President Trump’s trade agenda is rebuilding America’s manufacturing base, boosting industrial production, and advancing the interests of American workers. pic.twitter.com/kHSTOpkjnN
— United States Trade Representative (@USTradeRep) August 18, 2026
The office also noted that over 15,000 factory construction jobs had been added in July alone and argued the president’s trade agenda is giving back wages lost during the Biden era.
USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer has visited manufacturers in Colorado, Utah, and Iowa to highlight how Trump’s tariff policies are raising wages and reshoring jobs and production lines back to U.S. soil.
The seven-month manufacturing expansion speaks louder than Wall Street spin.
Factory construction jobs surged by 15k+ and manufacturing jobs continued to grow in July, reversing the jobs and wages lost under the Biden administration. pic.twitter.com/h8LTgd96ui
— United States Trade Representative (@USTradeRep) August 7, 2026
President Trump’s trade agenda is reversing the real wages lost under the Biden administration and putting more money back into American workers’ pockets. pic.twitter.com/WleKz36oYv
— United States Trade Representative (@USTradeRep) August 12, 2026
