More than 60,000 manufacturing jobs were brought to the U.S. last year by reshoring and foreign direct investment combined, according to a new report from The Reshoring Initiative.

This represents a 400% increase since 2003, when the country lost net about 140,000 manufacturing jobs per year to offshoring.

With only 30,000 to 50,000 jobs being offshored to other countries last year, the resulting net gain of 10,000 or more jobs per year represents a shift in the right direction, the report said.

Companies gave several reasons for reshoring and FDI last year, including government incentives, the skilled workforce, capitalizing on the value of a “Made in USA” label and automation.

By contrast, companies cited lower quality, long lead times, high freight costs and rising wages as reasons against offshoring.

The report showed that reshoring was strongest in the Southeast and Texas

“With 3 to 4 million manufacturing jobs still off shore, we see huge potential for even more growth and hope this data will motivate more companies to reevaluate their sourcing and siting decisions,” said Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative.

The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com