Do Manufacturing JobsStill Matter? by Pat Choate (NAPSA)—Over the past 12 months, America has lost more than 1.1 million manufacturingjobs. Every core sector of manufacturing was touched—industrial machinery, autos, electronics, steel Job Losses: October 2000-2001 Industry Change (1,000) ManufacturingTotal -1,103 Industrial Machinery -183 Electronics 212 Transportation equipment -105 and textiles, among others—as was every section of the country. Today, manufacturing employment in the United States stands at the samelevelit did in 1964. Someof these job losses were caused by the current recession. Improved technology also displaced some of these workers. Yet, many workers lost their jobs because domestic factories have shifted their operations to low-wage, nonregulation countries. In other industries, foreign producers have seized market share from U.S. producers. What effect does the loss of these jobs have on America? As the great 19" century lawyer Robert Ingersoll said of Abraham Lincoln, he believed “to invent, to manufacture requires thought, talent, and genius. It develops the brain and gives wings to the imagination. A nation that sells raw material will grow ignorant and poor, while the people who manufacture will grow intelligent and the United States today, stands at Manufacturing assures our D.C.- based author and economist. rich.” Textile products -63 Apparel products 15 Printing/publishing 81 Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor @ Manufacturing employmentin the same level it did in 1964. national defense. It makes possible our global leadership. It undergirds the living standards of more than seventeen million workers. A growing number of Americans are beginning to question economic and trade policies that appear to be weakening our country’s manufacturing base. For more information, visit www.craftedwithpride.org. Pat Choate is a Washington,
