Industrial renaissance coming to U.S.?

The U.S. manufacturing sector has been rebounding lately from its 2009-2010 depths, taking industrial temp up with it, a not uncommon but typically short-lived post-recession phenomenon. This time around, however, there may be reason for longer-term optimism as well.

As I mentioned in a blog post back in 2007, and occasionally since then, the relative advantage of cheap industrial labor in places such as China and India is rapidly diminishing--wage growth has reportedly been 10% or more, while U.S. wage growth has been relatively flat.  In a recently published article, the Boston Consulting Group noted the same.  As the wage advantage of such countries diminishes, the world's manufacturers will look more and more at the U.S. again as a competitive option.

I would add two additional reasons that the worlds' manufacturers may find the U.S. attractive. First, it has among the world's lowest rates of private sector unionization. Think about it.  Seriously, would you rather open a manufacturing plant here or here?  And second, the price of real estate in traditional manufacturing areas of the U.S. has lately gone through the floor.

If the U.S. manufacturing sector has a genuine long-term renaissance, that would give industrial temp providers a significant boost.