If manufacturing in the United States were its own country, it would rank as the ninth-largest economy in the world, with manufacturers contributing $2.09 trillion to the U.S. economy every year. Every dollar spent in the manufacturing sector adds another $1.37 to the economy and each manufacturing job creates another 2.5 jobs in local goods and services.

As “America’s Data Agency,” the Commerce Department today released a new report drawing on evidence from 10 federal data sets to show that a pay premium exists for workers in manufacturing industries. The report by the Economics and Statistics Administration’s Office of the Chief Economist rebuts criticisms about the existence of a manufacturing pay premium, and based on the evidence, clearly...