According to employment data from the Labor Department, the manufacturing sector grew by 24,000 jobs in April. Over the past six months, 166,000 new factory jobs have been created. Scott Paul, Alliance for American Manufacturing president, said, “Factory jobs surged again, adding 24,000 new positions, including nearly 4,000 in metal-consuming fabrication. Manufacturing is still contributing an outsized share of private-sector job growth. With several steel mills and aluminum smelters reopening across the country, I expect the good news to continue.”