Perception v. Reality
What we perceive and what is real are not always the same. One of the main arguments for tariffs is that we need to bring back the good blue-collar jobs that have been lost by deindustrialization. No one could possibly argue against this, if only it were factual. Here are the facts: U.S. manufacturing output as a percentage of real GDP has varied only 2% (13% – 11%) since 1947, according to the St. Louis Fed.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), manufacturing employment peaked in 1979. Since that time, we have lost 6.7 million manufacturing jobs, and we have gained 9.4 million jobs in trade, transportation, and utilities. So, for every manufacturing job that has been lost since 1979, 1.4 jobs have been created in trade, transportation, and utilities, yet no-one talks about it.
Finally, there are more automotive manufacturing jobs in America today then there were in 1993 when Bill Clinton signed NAFTA. According to the BLS, there are 308,000 jobs today versus 298,000 at the peek of the 1990s. Does that surprise you?
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