Despite a four-year strong overall job market, U.S. factory employment has remained stagnant for over a year due to high interest rates, a slowing economy, and a drop in demand for many manufactured goods after the pandemic. However, experts predict that manufacturing investments and potential interest-rate cuts could lead to job growth in the future, as evidenced by companies hiring in anticipation of future developments. “If you look in different pockets of the country—in North Carolina or Georgia—companies are already hiring before they’re breaking ground,” said Elisabeth Reynolds, a manufacturing and economic development researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who previously served on President Joe Biden’s National Economic Council. “That’s a sign of things to come.”