Louis Proyect wrote: >This seems like a question that Doug can supply the most meaningful answer >to, but I will say something based on impressions from the mass media. A >city like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is offered up as an example of one that >has made the transition from the rust belt--it was a major producer of >steel--to service industries. There is no question that Pittsburgh has seen >a steady increase in jobs in the financial services, etc. The problem is >that a 35 year old steelworker with 15 years experience in a foundry is not >likely to get a job programming financial applications, nor a job answering >area code 800 phone calls to tell people their current balance. Those jobs >will go to recent high-school graduates. I suspect that the tens of >thousands of steelworkers who lost their jobs in the 70s and 80s are working >at Walmart, Sears, etc. for $8 to $10 an hour. If Doug can't come up with >some statistics on this, I might take a trip over to the library and do some >digging myself since the question has a bearing on American politics as well >as Australian politics. This has to do with Clinton's claim that the >American economy is healthy. While the stock-market is booming, I sense that >there is much misery in the "rust belt" no matter the unemployment rate. Unemployment in the U.S. Midwest is indeed very low by recent historical standards; as a region its jobless rate is among the lowest, if not the lowest, in the country. There are several reasons for this - one, out-migration; two, absorption of the displaced manufacturing workers by service industries; three, a manufacturing recovery. Most displaced workers do find employment, though typically at worse-paying, less-secure service jobs. Lou, if you want to look into this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has an extensive program that follows displaced workers; they report periodically on it in the Monthly Labor Review. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html>
