American manufacturers shrink trade gap for first time in years

The United States imported $225 billion more in manufactured goods than it exported in the first half of 2013.

That may not seem like great news, but according to a Wall Street Journal report, the number is down from $227 billion a year ago, a small but meaningful improvement.

The findings, which come from data compiled by an economist at the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, show a leveling off in the trade deficit that had grown significantly over the past several years. According to the journal report, the Boston Consulting Group has predicted that this is the beginning of a surge in American exports thanks in part to lower energy costs and stagnating wages.

The extremely optimistic Boston Consulting Group report released Tuesday said that returning manufacturing jobs could reduce the 7.4 percent national unemployment rate by as much as two to three percentage points.

An Information Technology & Innovation Foundation report released in June found that after losing 46.7 of its manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010, Michigan has led the nation in manufacturing job creation this decade.

Washtenaw County is home to approximately 14,000 manufacturing jobs, and an economic forecast prepared by University of Michigan economists Donald Grimes and George Fulton predicted a 712 job increase in the sector through 2015.

• Read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Get in touch with Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2