7.23M Lost Jobs: Manufacturing Employment Down 37% From 1979 Peak

[Alan C.]

7,231,000 Lost Jobs: Manufacturing Employment Down 37% From 1979 Peak
 

The number of jobs in manufacturing has declined by 7,231,000--or 37 percent--since employment in manufacturing peaked in the United States in 1979, according to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The real median household income of Americans who have completed high school--but have not attained a higher degree--also peaked in the 1970s and has declined since then. In fact, according to the Census Bureau (Tables H-13 and H-14), the real median household income of an American householder who has completed four years of high school peaked in 1973 at $56,395 in  constant 2013 dollars. By 2013, it was down $40,701. That is a drop of $15,694--or 27.8 percent.

According to the BLS’s seasonally adjusted employment numbers, employment in the U.S. manufacturing sector hit a peak of 19,553,000 in June 1979. In April 2015, there were only 12,322,000 employed in the manufacturing sector. That is a decline of 7,231,000—or 37 percent.

. . .

In April 1973, the year median household income peaked for householders who have completed high school but not earned a higher degree, there were 146,459,000 in the civilian noninstitutional population and employment in manufacturing was 18,359,000—or 12.5 percent of the civilian noninstitutional population.

In April 2015, there were 250,266,000 in the civilian noninstitutional population and employment in manufacturing was 12,272,000—or 4.9 percent of the civilian population.

 

So, what is everyone else doing if not manufacturing?

 

While the manufacturing sector has been gutted, the service sector has grown rapidly. This is highly problematic because much of what the service sector does is wasteful and unproductive.

 

An example of this is in the financial sector. As a consequence of the Fed's low interest rates, and legally mandated, lower lending standards, the number of companies dealing with mortgages and other kinds of lending have grown like weeds. None of these companies should exist, but they do because of the government's perverse incentives. If and when the dollar collapses, the result will be a massive dislocation and millions unemployed when these companies go bust.

 

Other service-sector industries which have grown like weeds are health-care and education, the bulk of which consists of bureaucracy and paperwork. With advances in technology, and the fact that computers are accessible and affordable to just about anyone, education should be nearly free, and health-care should be dirt cheap.

[iHuman]

What is everyone else doing?

A. Pandering to the US .gov for handouts.

B. Eliminating Competition via Political Pull.

C. Breaking any/all Laws with the blessing of the .gov to forcibly extract revenue.

 

and more