Creative Destruction of Jobs
According to data compiled the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total private-sector employment rose by nearly 20 million between 1993 and 2002. A breathtaking total of 330 million jobs were added, while 310 million jobs were lost.
Between 1983 and 2002, the number of managerial and specialized professional jobs rose from 24 million to 43 million — from 23% of total employment to 31%.
Between 1980 and 2003, American manufacturing output climbed a dizzying 93 percent. Yes, production fell during the recent recession, but it is now recovering: the industrial production index for manufacturing rose 2.2 percent in 2003.
Manufacturing’s share of gross domestic product declined from 27% in 1960 to 14% in 2002, during which time the percentage of workers employed in manufacturing fell from 28% to 12%. The primary cause of these trends is the superior productivity of American manufacturers. Output per hour in the overall nonfarm business sector rose 50% between 1980 and 2002; by contrast, manufacturing output per hour shot up 100%. In other words, goods are getting cheaper and cheaper relative to services. Since this faster productivity growth has not been matched by a corresponding increase in demand for manufactured goods, the result is that Americans are spending relatively less on manufactures.
Similarly, in 1870, 48% of total US employment was in farming. By 2002 the figure had fallen to 2%.