The American Workplace - Movement Of Work

Whereas a generation ago many of the goods sold in the United States had been produced by American workers as well, the labor market in the early twenty-first century presents a different picture. In an effort to maximize profits, many companies now "outsource" production (pay another company to manufacture something that its workers once made) or move work "offshore" (relocate the manufacture of an item from the United States to an overseas location where labor and material costs are cheaper).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in "Mass Layoff Statistics Data in the United States and Domestic and Oversees Relocation" (http://www.bls.gov/mls/mlsrelocation.pdf), 6,181 layoff events occurred during 2003, affecting approximately 1.2 million workers. Fifteen TABLE 2.1 Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population, 1940–2005percent of these layoff events were permanent, due mainly to company restructuring. These closures affected 210,903 workers. The industries that were most affected were those involved in the manufacture of computer and electronic products, machinery, textiles, and clothing.

TABLE 2.1
Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population, 1940–2005
[Numbers in thousands]
Year	Civilian noninstitutional population	Civilian labor force								Not in labor force
		Total	Percent of population	Employed				Unemployed
				Total	Percent of population	Agriculture	Nonagricultural industries	Number	Percent of labor force
Persons 14 years of age and over
1940	99,840	55,640	55.7	47,520	47.6	9,540	37,980	8,120	14.6	44,200
1941	99,900	55,910	56.0	50,350	50.4	9,100	41,250	5,560	9.9	43,990
1942	98,640	56,410	57.2	53,750	54.5	9,250	44,500	2,660	4.7	42,230
1943	94,640	55,540	58.7	54,470	57.6	9,080	45,390	1,070	1.9	39,100
1944	93,220	54,630	58.6	53,960	57.9	8,950	45,010	670	1.2	38,590
1945	94,090	53,860	57.2	52,820	56.1	8,580	44,240	1,040	1.9	40,230
1946	103,070	57,520	55.8	55,250	53.6	8,320	46,930	2,270	3.9	45,550
1947	106,018	60,168	56.8	57,812	54.5	8,256	49,557	2,356	3.9	45,850
Persons 16 years of age and over
1947	101,827	59,350	58.3	57,038	56.0	7,890	49,148	2,311	3.9	42,477
1948	103,068	60,621	58.8	58,343	56.6	7,629	50,714	2,276	3.8	42,447
1949	103,994	61,286	58.9	57,651	55.4	7,658	49,993	3,637	5.9	42,708
1950	104,995	62,208	59.2	58,918	56.1	7,160	51,758	3,288	5.3	42,787
1951	104,621	62,017	59.2	59,961	57.3	6,726	53,235	2,055	3.3	42,604
1952	105,231	62,138	59.0	60,250	57.3	6,500	53,749	1,883	3.0	43,093
1953*	107,056	63,015	58.9	61,179	57.1	6,260	54,919	1,834	2.9	44,041
1954	108,321	63,643	58.8	60,109	55.5	6,205	53,904	3,532	5.5	44,678
1955	109,683	65,032	59.3	62,170	56.7	6,450	55,722	2,852	4.4	44,660
1956	110,954	66,552	60.0	63,799	57.5	6,283	57,514	2,750	4.1	44,402
1957	112,265	66,929	59.6	64,071	57.1	5,947	58,123	2,859	4.3	45,336
1958	113,727	67,639	59.5	63,036	55.4	5,586	57,450	4,602	6.8	46,088
1959	115,329	68,369	59.3	64,630	56.0	5,565	59,065	3,740	5.5	46,960
1960*	117,245	69,628	59.4	65,778	56.1	5,458	60,318	3,852	5.5	47,617
1961	118,771	70,459	59.3	65,746	55.4	5,200	60,546	4,714	6.7	48,312
1962*	120,153	70,614	58.8	66,702	55.5	4,944	61,759	3,911	5.5	49,539
1963	122,416	71,833	58.7	67,762	55.4	4,687	63,076	4,070	5.7	50,583
1964	124,485	73,091	58.7	69,305	55.7	4,523	64,782	3,786	5.2	51,394
1965	126,513	74,455	58.9	71,088	56.2	4,361	66,726	3,366	4.5	52,058
1966	128,058	75,770	59.2	72,895	56.9	3,979	68,915	2,875	3.8	52,288
1967	129,874	77,347	59.6	74,372	57.3	3,844	70,527	2,975	3.8	52,527
1968	132,028	78,737	59.6	75,920	57.5	3,817	72,103	2,817	3.6	53,291
1969	134,335	80,734	60.1	77,902	58.0	3,606	74,296	2,832	3.5	53,602
1970	137,085	82,771	60.4	78,678	57.4	3,463	75,215	4,093	4.9	54,315
1971	140,216	84,382	60.2	79,367	56.6	3,394	75,972	5,016	5.9	55,834
1972*	144,126	87,034	60.4	82,153	57.0	3,484	78,669	4.882	5.6	57,091
1973*	147,096	89,429	60.8	85,064	57.8	3,470	81,594	4,365	4.9	57,667
1974	150,120	91,949	61.3	86,794	57.8	3,515	83,279	5,156	5.6	58,171
1975	153,153	93,774	61.2	85,846	56.1	3,408	82,438	7,929	8.5	59,377
1976	156,150	96,158	61.6	88,752	56.8	3,331	85,421	7,406	7.7	59,991
1977	159,033	99,008	62.3	92,017	57.9	3,283	88,734	6,991	7.1	60,025
1978*	161,910	102,250	63.2	96,048	59.3	3,387	92,661	6,202	6.1	59,659
1979	164,863	104,962	63.7	98,824	59.9	3,347	95,477	6,137	5.8	59,900
1990	167,745	106,940	63.8	99,302	59.2	3,364	95,938	7,637	7.1	60,806
1981	170,130	108,670	63.9	100,397	59.0	3,368	97,030	8,273	7.6	61,460
1982	172,271	110,204	64.0	99,526	57.8	3,401	96,125	10,678	9.7	62,067
1983	174,215	111,550	64.0	100,834	57.9	3,383	97,450	10,717	9.6	62,665
1984	176,383	113,544	64.4	105,005	59.5	3,321	101,685	8,539	7.5	62,839
1985	178,206	115,461	64.8	107,150	60.1	3,179	103,971	8,312	7.2	62,744
1986*	180,587	117,834	65.3	109,597	60.7	3,163	106,434	8,237	7.0	62,752
1987	182,753	119,865	65.6	112,440	61.5	3,208	109,232	7,425	6.2	62,888
1988	184,613	121,669	65.9	114,968	62.3	3,169	111,800	6,701	5.5	62,944
1989	186,393	123,869	66.5	117,342	63.0	3,199	114,142	6,528	5.3	62,523

Overseas relocation of business affected 13,000 workers in manufacturing industries in 2003 (representing 9% of all layoffs). Over 40% of these relocations were to Mexico.