Biden at IBM: '678,000' Manufacturing Jobs, Then '668' Manufacturing Jobs (October 6, 2022)

At IBM’s plant in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., President Joe Biden bragged about factory jobs twice, with two different numbers. Early on, he said: “And, folks, by the way, just since we’ve been elected, we’ve created 678,000 new manufacturing jobs” [1].

Later in the same speech, the number changed. “As I said, since I came to office, our economy has created 10 million jobs, 668 [thousand]* manufacturing jobs, proof that ‘Made in America’ is no longer a slogan, it’s a reality,” Biden said [1].

In the official transcript, “thousand” appears in brackets, a word Biden did not say on stage [1].

The video above shows that moment from Biden’s Oct. 6, 2022, remarks. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

”Since We’ve Been Elected”

The gains were real, but most were jobs coming back after the pandemic. “As of September, the U.S. added 696,000 manufacturing jobs during Biden’s time, a 5.7% increase in the space of 20 months, according to BLS,” FactCheck.org reported eight days later [2].

“Furthermore, the September total is 95,000 above the number of manufacturing jobs in February 2020, before the pandemic forced plant closures and layoffs,” it added [2].

Prices were another story. “During his first 20 months in office, the Consumer Price Index rose 13.2%,” FactCheck.org reported [2].

”Who Never Tells You What’s on His Mind”

Biden opened with jokes about the New York delegation. He thanked “Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who never tells you what’s on his mind.” He told Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, “Sean, I’m Catherine Eugenia Finnegan’s son” [1].

He also took credit for the semiconductor law. “Chuck stayed the course, stuck with me, and we got it done,” Biden said of the CHIPS and Science Act [1].

”$20 Billion”

IBM used the visit to make news. “During the visit, IBM will announce a plan to invest $20 billion across the Hudson Valley region over the next 10 years,” the company said. IBM added that its business “supports more than 7,500 jobs across the Hudson Valley” [3].

Biden described it this way: “Just here in the Hudson Valley, IBM is investing $20 billion over the next 10 [years]* to design and manufacture semiconductor, mainframe technology, and quantum computers” [1].

”Field of Dreams”

He also touted Intel’s planned Ohio plant. “Last month, I was outside Columbus, Ohio, where Intel is investing $20 billion to build a semiconductor factory on 100 [1,000]* acres of land that I dubbed as the ‘field of dreams,’” Biden said [1].

“It’s going to create 10,000 good-paying jobs—union jobs, I might add,” he said, predicting workers “who are going to be making on average $120,000 a year” [1].

”One-Third of the Core Inflation”

Biden blamed chips for inflation. “Here in the United States, one-third of the core inflation last year—the core inflation last year—was due to higher prices of automobiles. Why? Because of the shortage of semiconductors,” he said [1].

He also embraced a label. “I know I get criticized for being the most prolabor President in history,” Biden said [1].

Near the end, his numbers slipped again. “One trillion three hundred—two hundred billion dollars for infrastructure,” he said [1].

”Own the Second Quarter of the 21st Century”

Biden made his union pitch plain. “And by the way, the middle class built this country, but unions built the middle class. That’s a fact,” he said [1].

He tied the chips push to Ukraine. “Earlier this year, I went down to Lockheed’s factory in Alabama, where they’re making the Javelin missiles that we’re supplying to Ukraine,” Biden said [1].

He closed with a prediction. “More is going to change for the better in the next 10 years than happened in the last 40 years,” Biden said. “And we are better positioned than any nation in the world to own the second quarter of the 21st century” [1].

By the Numbers

678,000 and 668,000: Biden’s two manufacturing-job figures in one speech [1].
95,000: how far manufacturing jobs were above the February 2020 level, as of September 2022 [2].
13.2%: the rise in consumer prices in Biden’s first 20 months [2].
$20 billion: IBM’s 10-year Hudson Valley plan [3].
4: bracketed insertions in the official transcript [1].

What Happened Next

IBM went bigger under Trump. On April 28, 2025, IBM “announced plans to invest $150 billion in America over the next five years,” including “more than $30 billion in research and development to advance and continue IBM’s American manufacturing of mainframe and quantum computers,” the company said [4].

“That legacy continues in Poughkeepsie, New York, where we manufacture the cutting-edge mainframes that are the technology backbone of the American and global economies,” IBM said [4].

Taxpayers took a piece of Intel. In August 2025, “the U.S. officially took a 10% stake in beleaguered chipmaker Intel,” Fox Business reported. “He walked in wanting to keep his job and he ended up giving us $10 billion for the United States,” President Donald Trump said of Intel’s CEO [5].

Fox Business still described Ohio as “home to Intel’s proposed factory” [5].

For Biden’s trip to Micron in Syracuse three weeks later, see HYGO News’ page on the Syracuse speech.