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U.S. Manufacturing's Retreat; Prologis Eyes Data-Center Funding By Mark R. Long | WSJ Logistics Report

Fewer Americans work in manufacturing than at any point since the pandemic ended, despite years of economic interventions by the Trump and Biden administrations. The WSJ's David Uberti writes that manufacturers shed workers in each of the eight months

after President Trump unveiled "Liberation Day" tariffs, according to federal figures, and more than 200,000 roles have disappeared since 2023.

An index of factory activity tracked by the Institute for Supply Management shrank in 26 straight months through December, but showed an unexpected January uptick

in new orders and production. The Census Bureau estimates that manufacturing construction spending, which surged with Biden-era funding for chips and renewable energy, fell in each of Trump's first nine months in office.

While auto and chip makers have cut tens of thousands of workers over the past year, stable layoff rates across the sector suggest that the jobs pullback is gradual. The slowdown is in some ways a continuation of decadeslong trends , and in an industry where capital plans and construction timelines extend years into the future, turnarounds of the sort promised by Trump

don't happen overnight.

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Industrial Real Estate

For decades, Prologis funded warehouse development with the backing of its asset-management arm. Now, the world's largest owner of industrial real estate may soon fund data centers the same way as it looks to capitalize on the AI boom , the WSJ's Kristin Broughton reports.

The San Francisco company is talking with investors about launching a co-investment vehicle focused on data centers, which would be its first such fund focused outside of logistics. The discussions have been exploratory, the company's CFO says, adding it expects to decide in the coming months whether to move forward, and the possible structure.

Prologis has been building data centers for years

and has taken steps recently to ramp up development, including hiring staff and buying equipment. A new investment vehicle could provide an additional source of capital to expand the business.

Siemens Energy plans to spend $1 billion to boost manufacturing

of grid and power-generation equipment in the U.S. as the AI boom inflates electricity demand. (WSJ) Number of the Day Maritime Security

WSJ VIDEO : The U.S. Coast Guard is being deployed in ways it has never been before. With demand running high for elite units, the Coast Guard is setting up a special forces team to train more people to execute national security missions. The WSJ's Shelby Holliday visited a unit in Miami to learn more.

The U.S. shot down an Iranian drone

targeting the USS Abraham Lincoln, and a U.S.-flagged ship evaded an attempt by Iranian gunboats to force it to stop in the Persian Gulf. (WSJ) A.P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd said the first ships from a shared Gemini Cooperation service would be sent through the Suez Canal

in mid-February. (Journal of Commerce) In Other News Canada seeks to recover " hundreds of millions of dollars " from Stellantis and General Motors due to scaled-back production, the country's industry minister said. (WSJ) China is banning retractable door handles

on cars, used by Tesla and many Chinese EV makers, after concerns grew over doors that couldn't be opened in accidents. (WSJ) Walmart hit a market cap of $1 trillion , becoming the first traditional retailer to reach the milestone. (WSJ) PepsiCo is looking to cut prices

by as much as 15% on products including Lay's potato chips and Flamin' Hot Cheetos following shoppers' complaints about high prices. (WSJ) Orsted agreed to sell its European onshore business

in a $1.7 billion deal, a day after a U.S. judge ruled that the company could resume work at its Sunrise Wind project off New York's coast. (WSJ) Several European investors backed an $85 million growth investment in nuclear-energy startup

Newcleo, which is developing a small modular reactor that runs on recycled fuel rods. (WSJ) Ivanhoe Mines said it was in talks to supply critical minerals

from its mine in Congo to the Trump administration's proposed $12 billion Project Vault stockpile. (WSJ) The EU aims to offer a critical-minerals partnership

to the U.S. to curb China's influence. (Bloomberg) The EPA is giving major engine makers a month to provide data about failures in diesel-exhaust-fluid systems used to cut emissions. (Transport Topics) About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2026 07:02 ET (12:02 GMT)

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