The Factories Are Coming Home, ISM Just Confirmed It
By Peter Navarro | November 1, 2026 | RealClearMarkets
Today, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, which I direct, released a comprehensive new report and companion video documenting an emerging American manufacturing renaissance.
Almost on cue, the Institute for Supply Management supplied the exclamation point.
The ISM Manufacturing Index jumped a full point in October to 55.5, beating Wall Street expectations of 54.7 and marking the tenth consecutive month American manufacturing has been in expansion territory.
This is not statistical noise. It is Trumpnomics at work.
The internals are even stronger than the headline. New orders registered 55.5. Production surged to 59.0. Factory employment remained firmly in expansion at 52.4. Inventories rose to 51.4. Every one of the five components that make up the headline ISM index is now signaling expansion. Export orders also rose to 51.2.
For perspective, throughout most of 2023 and 2024, American manufacturing languished in contraction. Factories were closing, supply chains remained offshore, and America continued surrendering strategic industrial capacity.
Now the arrow is pointing sharply in the other direction.
The new American Manufacturing Renaissance report catalogs over 500 manufacturing projects announced since President Trump returned to office, representing nearly $400 billion in investment and more than 160,000 direct manufacturing jobs. Using a conservative two-to-one employment multiplier, these projects support roughly 330,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Look beneath the hood, as the new report does, and you will see new and expanded factories in pharmaceuticals, autos, aerospace, shipbuilding, steel, aluminum, critical minerals, electrical equipment, machinery, food processing, and advanced electronics.
There are roughly 250 greenfield projects—factories being built from the ground up—with more than $166 billion in announced investment. Another roughly 270 brownfield projects, representing almost $220 billion, are expanding, modernizing, or reopening existing industrial facilities.
That distinction matters.