U.S. Economy
Job Growth
Gas Prices
Mortgage Rates
Companies Pushing Through Deals
Resurgent Inflation
Interest Rates
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Blue-Collar Work Has Plateaued, Narrowing Options for Young Workers
Skilled electricians, plumbers and factory workers are in demand, but job openings have dropped.
Electric Avenue, a contractor in the Portland, Ore., employs 12 people, most of whom are under the age of 40, a point of pride for the company’s owner, Jack Marquardt.
Credit...
Video by Amanda Lucier
Skip to content
Skip to site index
Blue-Collar Work Has Plateaued, Narrowing Options for Young Workers
Skilled electricians, plumbers and factory workers are in demand, but job openings have dropped.
Electric Avenue, a contractor in the Portland, Ore., employs 12 people, most of whom are under the age of 40, a point of pride for the company’s owner, Jack Marquardt.
Credit...
Video by Amanda Lucier
Supported by
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Listen
· 9:06 min
Share full article
By
Talmon Joseph Smith
April 8, 2026
In June, the White House said President Trump’s signature package of tax cuts would “unleash our economy and
deliver a Blue-Collar BOOM
.”
The president and
his vice president
,
JD Vance
, have also pledged that Mr. Trump’s tariff campaign would
revive manufacturing jobs
, including those in the skilled trades.
Instead, the parts of the blue-collar labor market occupied primarily by men have been slowing for over a year. Jobs in sectors that include the trades, such as manufacturing and construction, have racked up roughly 150,000 net losses on an annual basis as of March, based on
calculations
by Joey Politano,
an economic analyst
. In contrast, health care and social assistance jobs, professions that women typically dominate,
generated the most job growth in 2025
.
More tradesmen like plumbers and pipe fitters are retiring, opening up some opportunities for younger workers, but the slowdown in hiring across the labor market is limiting demand for new labor. Mr. Trump’s tariff increases, which he said would bring blue-collar jobs back to the United States, have instead
raised costs for manufacturers
— as well as the repair and maintenance sectors — and elevated inflation and interest rates have also slowed business.
Layoffs are low across the economy — and in the trades, too. But hiring rates have slumped to the drab pace of 2009, when the unemployment rate was 10 percent, twice as high as it is now. Hiring across the manufacturing sector, which encompasses the trades, has
declined roughly 40 percent
since 2022.
“There are jobs available,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist for RSM, an accounting firm. “But right now, demand for blue-collar labor is not sufficient to meet the supply.”
Job openings in manufacturing have plummeted since peaking in 2022
Note: Data is monthly job opening for manufacturing jobs, seasonally adjusted.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Talmon Joseph Smith/The New York Times
Employment gains among women in 2025 grew at almost 3 times the rate of men
Note: Data is the seasonally adjusted number of jobs added, by sex, for people 16- to 64-years-old in the civilian labor force.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Bank of America Institute.
Talmon Joseph Smith/The New York Times
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and
log into
your Times account, or
subscribe
for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber?
Log in
.
Want all of The Times?
Subscribe
.
Related Content
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
댓글
0