-- President Barack Obama will announce today that he's tapping his chief auto adviser to try to revitalize the struggling U.S. manufacturing sector.

Ron Bloom will assume the title of senior counselor for manufacturing policy, in addition to his role as senior adviser on the President's Task Force on the Automotive Industry.

Obama said in a statement Sunday that the manufacturing sector expanded in August for the first time in 18 months and had the highest monthly output in two years.

"It's a sign that we're on the right track to economic recovery, but that we still have a long way to go," Obama said.

"That's why I've asked Ron Bloom to help coordinate my administration's manufacturing policy.

Bloom has a big job ahead of him.

The U.S. economy lost 216,000 jobs last month, and about 30 percent, or 63,000, were factory jobs.

In 2000, the United States had 17.2 million manufacturing jobs. As of August, that number had fallen to 11.8 million, or 8.97 percent of all U.S. jobs, a new low in terms of percentages.

The country has shed nearly 2 million manufacturing jobs since the recession began in December 2007, with manufacturing and construction accounting for 40 percent of the losses.

Michigan has been one of the hardest hit states, losing 21 percent of its factory jobs over the last year, largely due to the steep declines in the auto industry. The state has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 15 percent.

In 2000, nearly 900,000 Michiganians held manufacturing jobs, and unemployment stood at 3 percent. In July, Michigan reported just 453,800 manufacturing jobs -- 11 percent of all jobs in the state.

The Detroit News reported on Aug. 21 that Bloom would get the new job.

The real question is whether manufacturing will ever rebound.

Last month, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said manufacturing may never recover to historical levels because of structural changes in the U.S economy.

"The harsh financial constraints of this recession appear to have accelerated (manufacturing's) decline," he said.

Bloom said in a statement the administration must boost the sector.

"It is vital to have a concerted effort across the administration to support an innovative, vibrant manufacturing sector," said Bloom, a former investment banker and longtime special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers union.

As a top auto adviser to the Obama administration, Bloom oversaw the bankruptcy filings and restructuring of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

White House advisers are still working to set a manufacturing strategy. To date, the administration has focused on awarding billions of dollars in grants and low-cost government loans for "green collar" manufacturing jobs like solar, wind and electric-vehicle-related projects.

That effort suffered a setback over the weekend when the administration's green collar jobs czar Van Jones resigned after controversial statements he made surfaced.

The president will announce Bloom's new duties in Cincinnati at an AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic. Bloom will also be there, the White House said, but won't make a speech.Former President George W. Bush had a manufacturing czar, but critics, including those in the Michigan congressional delegation, complained that the position had no real clout.