"Note the huge difference in the two main measures of US manufacturing output -- Industrial Output: Manufacturing from the FED vs. Real Manufacturing Value Added from the BEA, especially since 2012. IP:MFG has been flat vs. a 20% increase in Real Value Added.
One difference is that the Fed mainly measures physical units of output, whereas the BEA measures the dollar value of output (adjusted for inflation).
The difference is significant and has major implications in the discussions about whether US manufacturing has been "hollowed out," "deindustrialization of America," "the US doesn't make anything anymore," etc."
