the economist is conservative too

and also- http://mediamatters.org/items/200603240004 (for the graph/info, just ignore hannity)

I can see certain types of bakeries offering manufacturing jobs, ie Krispy Kreme where the product is shipped to many retail outlets. The Census should probably included a wholesale vs standard in it’s definition as well.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/20/politics/main601336.shtml

The article describes information in the “annual Economic Report of the President“.

As first reported by The New York Times, the fast food issue is taken up on page 73 of the lengthy report in a special box headlined “What is manufacturing?”

“The definition of a manufactured product,” the box reads, “is not straightforward.”

“When a fast-food restaurant sells a hamburger, for example, is it providing a ’service’ or is it combining inputs to ‘manufacture’ a product?” it asks.

Manufacturing is defined by the Census Bureau as work involving employees who are “engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products.”

But, the president’s report notes, even the Census Bureau has acknowledged that its definition “can be somewhat blurry,” with bakeries, candy stores, custom tailors and tire retreading services considered manufacturing.

“Mixing water and concentrate to produce soft drinks is classified as manufacturing,” the president’s report reads. “However, if that activity is performed at a snack bar, it is considered a service.”

The report does not recommend that burger-flippers be counted alongside factory workers.