[M.D. Holloway]

The US is the worlds number one manufacturer, accounting for about one quarter of the global manufacturing output. The US may have dipped slightly in the past few years but not nearly as bad as Japan, France and Germany.

China and Korea have risen. The rising costs of energy, health care and several other non-production factors will and have affected the ability of the US manufacturing.

In certain pockets of the US, it would seem that manufacturing is stalled or weakening. The same can be said for the housing build market. In various parts of California, housing is dying a slow death but in Tejas and other states it is doing very well (as is infra-structure construction).

We tend to base or opinions on our experiences - lets not fall into that trap. The US manufacturing sector is very strong. Don't think that the plant closing in your area is a bellweather for things to come.