It appears that more companies are looking to expand on U.S. soil rather than overseas in the coming months. Managers are starting to find that production costs in parts of the U.S. are cheaper than in some regions of China, once transportation expenses are taken into account.
One reason: Rising wages in the Asian behemoth and slack (U6 unemployment for September 2011 was 16.5%) in the U.S. workforce. Also, access to skilled labor and local university partnerships. Among examples sited: IBM’s new facilities in Columbia, Mo., and Lansing, Mich.