Ironically, the tool used to reduce inflation—higher interest rates—has made investing in automation more expensive.

Manufacturers’ ability to create jobs in the United States, invest in communities and compete in the global economy is threatened by recent tax policy changes that make it more costly to perform research, buy machinery and finance capital investments.

Despite inflation concerns and lingering supply chain issues, manufacturers are investing in their assembly operations.

U.S. manufacturers have faced significant headwinds this year: supply chain problems, a skilled labor shortage, inflation, and the war in Ukraine. And yet despite these issues—or perhaps, because of them—manufacturers continued to invest in people, plants and equipment.

In February 2020, U.S. manufacturers employed nearly 12.8 million people. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. In an instant, the country lost 1 million manufacturing jobs as governments and businesses scrambled to figure out how best to stop the spread of the disease.

Overall, 2016 has been a pretty good year for U.S. manufacturing. In every industry covered by ASSEMBLY magazine, manufacturers were investing in people, plants and equipment.