Manufacturing Wages Since 1970
US manufacturing employment peaked near 19.5 million in 1979 and has fallen to around 13 million, while output roughly doubled and the wage premium shrank.
Overview
The story is automation first and trade second: real manufacturing output kept climbing as employment fell, with the China trade shock of the 2000s concentrating sudden local job losses. Union density in the private sector collapsed from around a quarter of workers to near six percent, thinning the wage premium factory work once carried over the economy. Reshoring brings back some capacity but few jobs per dollar invested. Figures are approximate federal statistics and economic research.
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