April 4 Reuters Dan Ariens laid off workers, cut shifts, and halted nearly all hiring last summer after sales slumped at his company, best known for making bright orange snow blowers and lawnmowers sold around the world. Headcount fell 20 to 1,600 people, and he doesn39;t see business improving until 2025.

The experience of the Ariens Company, a fourthgeneration familyowned firm in Brillion, Wisconsin, shows the stark contrast between U.S. factory employment  essentially flatlining for more than a year and the fouryear boom in the wider job market.

President Joe Biden39;s industrial policy, headlined by legislation passed in 2022 that sparked a surge of factory construction, is aimed at boosting semiconductors, electric vehicles and green technologies, as well as other sectors.

As the presidential campaign shifts into higher gear ahead of November39;s election, Biden is touring factories to tout his accomplishments, especially to voters in battleground states.

Even as construction is booming and some segments of heavy industry continue to hum, such as those that supply goods for governmentfunded infrastructure projects, the larger outlook for jobs in manufacturing is weak. Economists mostly attribute that to a combination of high interest rates, a slowing economy, and the end of the COVID19 demand surge for many kinds of manufactured goods.

The Biden administration contends it39;s too soon to see the full fruits of its efforts. It takes about six to eight quarters…